Tinnitus

Some health care practitioners have used masking devices along with talking treatments (psychotherapy) to treat tinnitus. The kind of psychotherapy used is called cognitive behaviour therapy. Together, this is called tinnitus retraining therapy. But we didn't find any good studies about it, so we don't know whether it can help.

Other treatments
Lots of other things have been tried for tinnitus. But there isn't a lot of research on these treatments, so we can't say whether they will help.

Vitamin B3. One small study found that taking this vitamin (also called nicotinamide or niacin) for a month didn't help tinnitus.12
Antihistamines. Antihistamines are normally used to calm down allergic reactions. Only one antihistamine has been studied as a treatment for tinnitus. It's called cinnarizine (Cinaziere, Stugeron, Stugeron Forte). It didn't help.13
Zinc. Zinc is a mineral the body needs. One small study found that taking 100 milligrams (mg) of zinc three times a day for two months didn't relieve tinnitus.14

Muscle relaxants. These drugs are often used for conditions like back pain. One small study found that the muscle relaxant baclofen (Baclospas, Lioresal) didn't help.15

Acupuncture. This involves having thin, sterile needles put in your skin.There have been lots of studies, but they are all quite small, and the results were mixed. We don't know whether acupuncture can help tinnitus.

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