Clinical hypnosis for the alleviation of tinnitus

The neurophysiology of tinnitus is poorly understood, and it can have an origin at a number of neural levels, making a psychological approach to treatment attractive. Clinical hypnosis has been demonstrated to be effective in a number of clinical situations, such as irritable bowel syndrome but, in other areas for which it is commonly employed, such as smoking cessation, the evidence is poor. Its use for the management of troublesome tinnitus has been discussed in the literature for more than 30 years, but little formal research has been conducted into efficacy of this treatment or the relative suitability of techniques. Despite this, a success rate of 70% is commonly quoted by hypnosis practitioners in promotional material. This review summarizes the few peer-reviewed studies on this subject and concludes that, though evidence suggests that hypnosis provides a benefit in some subjects, how this benefit compares to more mainstream approaches is not yet clear. This area is currently under-researched, and engagement is encouraged between researchers in audiology and hypnotherapists to undertake large, well-structured controlled trials with standardized measures of outcome.