Acupuncture & Ginger Moxibustion

Effective for Tinnitus - New Study

on 18 March 2014.
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Researchers conclude that acupuncture combined with ginger moxibustion has a
curatie e!!ect on patients with intractable tinnitus.
"atients with intractable
tinnitus are primaril# the elderl# or middle$aged people who hear ringing in the ears%
especiall# in the eening or in a &uiet enironment. Medications o!ten do not wor' well
!or this condition. Researchers !rom a hospital in (ubei proince treated )4 cases o!
intractable tinnitus using acupuncture and ginger moxibustion. The# achieed an oerall
e!!ectie rate o! *1.18+.
,ccording to Traditional -hinese Medicine .T-M/ theor#% most intractable tinnitus
cases are comprised o! patients with excess s#ndromes. 0n biomedical terms% excess
s#ndromes can be measured as a !orm o! h#peractiit# o! the s#mpathetic nerous
s#stem. The T-M related excess s#ndromes !or tinnitus are o!ten caused b# depression%
stagnation o! 1ier &i% excessie anger or !ear and ma# lead to a bloc'age o! the
Shao#ang Meridian.
2e!icienc# s#ndromes also cause to tinnitus. 2e!icienc# s#ndromes are mostl# caused
b# a wea' constitution due to chronic disease% de!icienc# o! &i and blood% excessie
wor' or excess sexualit# that results in insu!!icient 3idne# essence that is unable to
nourish the ears. There!ore% acupuncture is usuall# applied to acupoints on the (and and
4oot Shao#ang channels circling ears. The bloc'ing o! channels is o!ten seere !or
patients with intractable tinnitus and ginger% which warms and unbloc's channels and
tracts% can improe circulation in the ears especiall# when combined with moxibustion.
The researchers treated )4 patients whose courses o! illness ranged !rom 4 months to 11
#ears. "rior to the stud#% ph#sical examinations had ruled out the possibilit# that their
tinnitus was caused b# certain diseases such as illness in the auricle and middle ear%
acoustic neuroma% sclerosis% head in5uries% anemia% diabetes% th#roid h#po!unction% low
blood sugar% autoimmune disease and ascular spastic diseases.
2uring the acupuncture treatment% needling was applied to T617 .8i!eng/% 962
.Tinghui/% S:21 .;rmen/% S01* .Tinggong/% 1U7 .1ie&ue/% 964) .<iaxi/% S:)
.=hong>hu/% 1R) .Taichong/ and 9640 .?iuxu/. ,cupuncture points T617% 962 and
S:21 were needled unilaterall# on the a!!ected side. 0! the tinnitus was unilateral% the
patient rested on one side@ i! the tinnitus was bilateral% the patient rested in a supine
position. 4ili!orm needle length was 40mm and all needles were &uic'l# inserted.
Rein!orcing or reducing manipulation techni&ues were chosen to achiee de&i according
to the di!!erential diagnosis. ;lectroacupuncture was applied to the acupoints around the
ears using a continuous wae and needling was retained !or )0 minutes. The
acupuncture treatment was administered once a da# !or 10 da#s comprising 1 course.
9inger moxibustion was applied simultaneousl# with acupuncture. 1arge pieces o!
ginger were sliced into 1cm thic' cubes% each had a small needle$punctured hole in the
center. Then% the researchers made pagoda shaped moxa bars using dried moxa% put
them on the ginger pieces% ignited them% placed them on the outer auricle and moed the
positions o! the ginger pieces until the moxa burnt out. Two moxa bars were used !or
eer# treatment. Ane treatment was administered per da# !or a period o! 10 da#s.
, total o! )4 patients were treated in this stud#. ,!ter the treatment aeraging 17 da#s%
22 patients .B4.17+/ !ull# recoered% C patients .14.71+/ showed mar'ed
improements% 4 patients .11.7B+/ showed moderate improements and ) patients
.8.82+/ showed no improements. The oerall e!!ectie rate was *1.18+. Dithin 4
months !ollowing the treatment% 27 patients in this stud# experienced no worsening o!
s#mptoms or recurrence. 6ased on the outcomes% the researchers concluded that
acupuncture and ginger moxibustion hae a signi!icant curatie e!!ect on patients with
intractable tinnitus. The researchers note that widespread adoption o! this clinical
treatment protocol is warranted based on the positie patient outcomes.
Re!erenceE
1i% Shilin% 8an <iao% 8ingli Song% and :iang Du. F;!!icac# Abseration o! ,cupuncture
-ombined with 9inger Moxibustion to Treatment o! )4 -ases o! 0ntractable Tinnitus.F
=hong#i =hong#ao .Traditional -hinese Medicine and (erbs/ ,ug. 201)E 277$278.
$ See more atE httpEGGwww.healthcmi.comG,cupuncture$-ontinuing$;ducation$
HewsG1277$acupuncture$ginger$moxibustion$e!!ectie$!or$tinnitus$new$
stud#Isthash.7eSsbtu.dpu!