Acupuncture for Hearing Loss - New Research

New research concludes that acupuncture treats hearing loss. Researchers measured the effects of acupuncture on patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.  This type of hearing loss is defined as a loss of 30dB or more in 3 continuous frequencies within 3 days or less.  Thirty-six patients of a total of seventy-two "showed improvement" with an average gain of 24.47dB of hearing restoration.  The researchers "demonstrated that a favorable prognosis was directly related to the time interval from the onset of hearing loss to the start of Acupuncture Therapy." For the patients that showed significant improvement, start of acupuncture treatment was within an average of 51 days from the onset of hearing loss.  For the group that did not respond, the average was 167 days between onset of hearing loss and the beginning of acupuncture care.  Variables that did not effect the outcome were vertigo, presence of hypertension and gender.  

Acupuncture was administered on average two times per week.  The researchers note "our findings indicate that Acupuncture Therapies have some effects on idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss even for the patients who failed to respond to conventional western therapies."

Deborah Waddell

Director of Skylands Acupuncture & Wellness Center