Information What can I do? Treatments Tinnitus and cannabinoids Name of treatment Cannabinoids (cannabidiol or CBD oil) (cannabinol) Type of treatment Pharmaceutical Claims for treatment Reduces/eliminates the tinnitus percept. How treatment is delivered Orally, especially sub-lingual (under the tongue) Potential negative consequences Animal models suggest that cannabinoids may promote the development of tinnitus[1]. Evidence offered: Papers available 7 with keywords tinnitus + cannabinoid in PubMed database Conclusions drawn To date, there have been no systematic studies of the effects of cannabinoids on tinnitus in humans.[2] It is feasible that different cannabinoids may have different effects on tinnitus. Quality of evidence[3] C/D Does the BTA recommend this treatment? No BTA opinion on this treatment: Very little research has been done, but the evidence so far suggests that cannabinoids may exacerbate tinnitus. Licences for the use of CBD oil as medicine have not yet been granted. Would the BTA support further studies into this treatment? Yes, if high-quality study. Verdict: Safety - is this treatment harmful? Evidence of harm Verdict: Efficacy - does this treatment work? Evidence that it has no effect Comments CBD oil is legal in the UK, providing the content of a psychoactive component of cannabis (THC, tetrahydrocannabinol) is 0.2% or below. [1] Zheng Y, Reid P, Smith PF. Cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonists do not decrease but may increase acoustic trauma-induced tinnitus in rats. Frontiers in Neurology 2015. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2015.00060 [2] Smith PF, Zheng Y. Cannabinoids, cannabinoid receptors and tinnitus. Hearing Research, 2016; 332 210-216. [3] A = Systematic review/meta analysis. B = Randomised control studies. C = Cohort studies. D = Case control studies. E = case studies/reports. +/- to be used to indicate quality within bands Download this information: Tinnitus_and_cannabinoids_April_2019.pdf Published 15 April 2019 Photo by Roberto Valdivia on Unsplash