Acupuncture for Tinnitus: Causes, Research and Relief

Quick answer

Can acupuncture help tinnitus?

It may help some people. Studies have reported lower tinnitus loudness and distress scores after acupuncture, and it is generally safe. It is not a cure, results vary, and no one can promise you a specific result. Here is what to know:

1. 1Get checked first. Have your hearing tested and treatable causes ruled out.
2. 2Know what to expect. Studies report less bother and lower loudness scores for some people, and results vary.
3. 3Give it a fair trial. Studies most often used 10 to 19 sessions over three to six weeks.
4. 4Use it alongside your other care. Acupuncture does not replace hearing care or cognitive behavioral therapy.
5. 5Expect management, not a cure. The goal is a quieter, less intrusive sound and better sleep and focus.

The basics

What is tinnitus?

Tinnitus is hearing a sound when there is no sound around you. Most people call it ringing in the ears, but it can also be buzzing, hissing, humming, roaring or clicking. You might hear it in one ear, both ears or inside your head. It can be constant, or it can come and go.

It is common. The 2026 US clinical guideline estimates that 10 to 15% of adults have it, or more than 50 million people in the United States. For many, it is a mild background noise. For others, it gets in the way of sleep, concentration and mood.

Tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease. It is also only rarely tied to a serious medical problem, which is reassuring, but it is still worth having it checked.

Types of tinnitus

Why it happens

What causes tinnitus?

Often there is more than one factor, and some people develop tinnitus for no known reason. According to the National Institutes of Health, common causes and links include:

• Loud noise. Concerts, power tools, headphones or a noisy job.
• Hearing loss. This includes the gradual hearing loss that comes with age.
• Earwax or an ear infection. These are often treatable.
• Medications. Tinnitus can be a side effect of some drugs. Do not stop a medication without asking your prescriber.
• Head or neck injury. An injury can affect the ear, the nerves or the muscles nearby.
• Jaw joint problems. TMJ disorders are a known link.
• Less common causes. These include Meniere’s disease, blood vessel problems, tumors and chronic conditions such as diabetes.

Stress does not appear on every list of causes, but many people notice their tinnitus more when they are tired or anxious. Poor sleep makes it harder to ignore the sound, and the sound makes it harder to sleep.

Safety first

When to get your tinnitus checked

Start with your primary care doctor, an ENT or an audiologist. The 2026 guideline says people with tinnitus should have a comprehensive hearing evaluation. See someone soon if your tinnitus is regular or constant, is getting worse, or is affecting your sleep, concentration or mood.

Standard care

How is tinnitus treated?

There is currently no cure for long-lasting tinnitus, so treatment aims to find anything fixable and make the sound less intrusive. The American Academy of Otolaryngology updated its guideline in October 2026. For tinnitus that is persistent and bothersome, here is what it says:

We see acupuncture as something to add to your care if you want to try it, not a replacement for a hearing test or CBT.

What you can do at home

• Add quiet background sound. A fan, soft music or a white noise machine can make tinnitus less noticeable, especially at bedtime.
• Protect your hearing. Use earplugs at concerts and around loud tools, and turn your headphones down.
• Look after your sleep. Keep a regular bedtime and a wind-down routine.
• Manage stress. Try whatever genuinely settles you, such as walking, breathing exercises or acupuncture for stress.

The evidence

What does the research say about acupuncture for tinnitus?

Researchers have been studying acupuncture for tinnitus for years, and the work is ongoing. Here are some of the published findings.

A 2016 review concluded that acupuncture “may offer subjective benefit to some tinnitus patients.” A 2024 review of 106 studies mapped how acupuncture for tinnitus is usually done, including which points are used and how many sessions are common.

Traditional view

How Chinese medicine looks at tinnitus

In traditional Chinese medicine, tinnitus is not treated as one condition. Practitioners look at the whole pattern, including whether the sound is high or low, sudden or gradual, and how it relates to your sleep, stress, digestion and energy. Sudden, loud ringing that gets worse with stress is often linked to the Liver, and a quiet, gradual ringing that comes with fatigue or age is often linked to the Kidney.

These are traditional concepts used to guide treatment, not medical diagnoses. Researchers are still studying how acupuncture might affect tinnitus, and no single explanation has been proven.

At TruSpine

What to expect from acupuncture for tinnitus

1. 1We talk through your history. We ask when the sound started, what it sounds like, what makes it better or worse, and what your hearing tests have shown.
2. 2We look at the bigger picture. We ask about your neck, jaw, sleep and stress, since these can affect how you experience the sound.
3. 3We place the needles. Hair-thin, sterile, single-use needles usually rest for about 20 to 30 minutes while you relax. Many patients doze off.
4. 4We make a plan. We agree on how often to come in and how we will measure change.

In the research, the most commonly used points were around the ear, combined with points farther away. Your acupuncturist may also add electro-acupuncture, which sends a gentle current through the needles and was used in several of the studies above.

How many sessions will you need?

It varies. The most common course in published studies was 10 to 19 sessions over 20 to 39 days, and the two trials above used 10 sessions over 5 weeks. Tinnitus that has lasted for years may be slower to change or may not change at all. We will review your progress with you, and if you are not seeing a difference after a fair trial, we will say so and talk about other options.

Tracking your progress

Tinnitus is hard to measure, so it helps to track it. Before you start, rate your loudness and how much it bothers you from 0 to 10, and note how you are sleeping. Compare those numbers every few visits. Your audiologist may also use a questionnaire called the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, which is the same tool used in many of the studies.

Head, neck and jaw

Tinnitus from the neck or jaw

Some tinnitus is linked to the muscles and joints around the head. You may hear this called somatic or somatosensory tinnitus. The 2026 guideline added this topic for the first time and says clinicians may ask about it.

Signs that your neck or jaw may be involved:

• The sound changes when you clench your teeth, open your mouth or turn your head.
• It started around the time of a neck injury or dental work, or during a flare of jaw pain.
• You also have neck pain, headaches or TMJ symptoms.
• It gets worse with long hours at a desk or with jaw clenching.

Research here is early but worth knowing about. In a trial of 61 people with jaw-related tinnitus, adding hands-on therapy to exercise and education reduced tinnitus severity more than exercise and education alone. A 2026 trial of 31 people found something similar for neck and jaw-related tinnitus. A 2025 review suggests that neck and jaw exercises combined with hands-on therapy may help, and called for more studies.

Because TruSpine has acupuncturists and chiropractors on the same team, we can look at this side of things too. Depending on what we find, that could include Active Release Technique for tight muscles, dry needling, or neck and jaw exercises. These treat the neck or jaw problem, and they may not change your tinnitus.

San Francisco

Tinnitus care in San Francisco

At TruSpine, acupuncture for tinnitus is provided by our licensed acupuncturists Gabi Curbelo, MSOM, L.Ac. and Dr. Jennifer Drake, DACM, L.Ac.

Your first visit takes about 60 minutes, and treatment is included. Follow-up visits are 50 minutes. We work with many in-network and out-of-network plans, so call us before your visit and we will help you check your coverage.

FAQs

Common questions about tinnitus and acupuncture

Research and sources

1. Adams ME, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline: Tinnitus Update. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2026.
2. Wu Q, et al. Efficacy and safety of acupuncture and moxibustion for primary tinnitus. Am J Otolaryngol. 2023.
3. Liu F, et al. Acupuncture in the treatment of tinnitus. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2016.
4. Ho LF, et al. Electroacupuncture and warm needling for subjective tinnitus. Complement Ther Med. 2025.
5. Lee KH, et al. Acupuncture for tinnitus: a scoping review of clinical studies. Complement Med Res. 2024.
6. Tavares LF, et al. Manual therapy and exercise therapy on otological symptoms in temporomandibular disorders. Disabil Rehabil. 2025.
7. Delgado de la Serna P, et al. Cervico-mandibular manual therapy and somatic tinnitus. Pain Med. 2020.
8. Atan D, et al. Manual therapy in the treatment of somatic tinnitus. Physiother Theory Pract. 2026.
9. Doi MY, et al. Effectiveness of acupuncture therapy as treatment for tinnitus. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2016. Read the study
10. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders: Tinnitus
11. NHS: Tinnitus