Tinnitus and hypnotherapy

Name of treatment	Hypnotherapy (hypnosis)
Type of treatment	Alternative therapy using hypnosis, positive suggestions and guided imagery
Claims for treatment	Deals with the psychological aspects of tinnitus, such as anger, stress, anxiety.[1]
How treatment is delivered	Therapist will guide patient into a deeply relaxed state either in person or via recording
Potential negative consequences	Cost Can be offered by people with little training Hazardous for people with psychosis or certain types of personality disorder[2]
Evidence offered:
Papers available	Very few recent papers mention hypnotherapy as a tinnitus treatment at all. Previous papers have been small scale trials of poor quality.[3]
Conclusions drawn	There is no evidence available to show whether hypnotherapy is effective in people with tinnitus.[3] A systematic review of hypnotherapy in patients with stress concluded that the effectiveness of this intervention is still unclear.[4] There is some evidence that hypnotherapy reduces anxiety, but it is more effective when combined with other psychological interventions.[5] A systematic review of hypnotherapy for insomnia concluded that the effectiveness of this intervention is still unclear.[6] There is very little evidence on whether hypnotherapy causes adverse effects, but one systematic review showed no evidence that it does.[7]
Quality of evidence[8]	A
Does the BTA recommend this treatment?	Current tinnitus management guidelines suggest the use of relaxation strategies to help manage tinnitus. Hypnotherapy may be considered as a way to improve relaxation.
BTA opinion on this treatment:	There is no evidence to support the use of hypnotherapy over other relaxation strategies, but some people may find it useful.
Would the BTA support further studies into this treatment?	Yes
Verdict: Safety - is this treatment harmful?	Limited potential for harm
Verdict: Efficacy - does this treatment work?	No evidence that it is effective
Date completed	February 2020
Date for revision	February 2023

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tinnitus and hypnotherapy

[1] Hypnotherapy Directory. Tinnitus [online]. Available from https://www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk/articles/tinnitus.html [accessed 12 February 2020]

[2] NHS (2018) Hypnotherapy (online) Available from www.nhs.uk/conditions/hypnotherapy [accessed 12 February 2020]

[3] Savage J, Waddell A. [2014] Tinnitus. BMJ Clinical Evidence. 2014:506. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4202663/#BMJ_0506_I12 [accessed 12 February 2020]

[4] Fisch S, Brinkhaus B, Teut M. (2019). Hypnosis in Patients with Perceived Stress – A Systematic Review. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 17 (1), 323. DOI: 10.1186/s12906-017-1806-0

[5] Valentine KE, Milling LS, Clark LJ, Moriarty CL. (2019). The Efficacy of Hypnosis as a Treatment for Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis. The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 67(3). DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2019.1613863

[6] Lam T-H, Chung K-F, Yeung W-F, Yu BY-M, Yung K-P, Ng TH-Y (2015). Hypnotherapy for Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 23 (5), 719-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2015.07.011

[7] Häuser W, Hagl M, Schmierer A, Hansen E (2016). The Efficacy, Safety and Applications of Medical Hypnosis. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. 113 (170 289-96. DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2016.0289

[8] 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

Updated 12 February 2020

Photo by Mitchell Griest on Unsplash

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