Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct;129(10):2384-2390.
doi: 10.1002/lary.27841. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing as a treatment for tinnitus

John S Phillips  1 , Sally Erskine  1 , Tal Moore  1 , Ian Nunney  2 , Catherine Wright  1
Affiliations

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing as a treatment for tinnitus

John S Phillips et al. Laryngoscope. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives/hypothesis: To determine the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) as a treatment for tinnitus.

Study design: Single-site prospective interventional clinical trial at a university hospital in the United Kingdom.

Methods: Participants were provided with tEMDR. This is a bespoke EMDR protocol that was developed specifically to treat individuals with tinnitus. Participants received a maximum of 10 sessions of tEMDR. Outcome measures including tinnitus questionnaires and mood questionnaires were recorded at baseline, discharge, and at 6 months postdischarge.

Results: Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory scores demonstrated a statistically significant improvement at discharge after EMDR intervention (P = .0005 and P = .0098, respectively); this improvement was maintained at 6 months postdischarge. There was also a moderate but not significant (P = .0625) improvement in Beck Anxiety Inventory scores.

Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that the provision of tEMDR has resulted in a clinically and statistically significant improvement in tinnitus symptoms in the majority of those participants who took part. Furthermore, the treatment effect was maintained at 6 months after treatment ceased. This study is of particular interest, as the study protocol was designed to be purposefully inclusive of a diverse range of tinnitus patients. However, as a small uncontrolled study, these results do not consider the significant effects of placebo and therapist interaction. Larger high-quality studies are essential for the verification of these preliminary results.

Level of evidence: 4 Laryngoscope, 129:2384-2390, 2019.

Keywords: Tinnitus; eye movement desensitization and reprocessing; neurotology; quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

    1. Lockwood AH, Salvi RJ, Burkard RF. Tinnitus. N Engl J Med 2002;347:904-910.
    1. Noell CA, Meyerhoff WL. Tinnitus. Diagnosis and treatment of this elusive symptom. Geriatrics 2003;58:28-34.
    1. Davis A, El Rafaie A. Epidemiology of tinnitus. In: Tyler RS, ed. Tinnitus Handbook. San Diego, CA: Singular; 2000:1-23.
    1. McFerran D, Phillips JS. Tinnitus and hyperacusis. In: Watkinson J, Clarke R, eds. Scott-Brown's Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery. 8th ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2018.
    1. Oren E, Solomon R. EMDR therapy: an overview of its development and mechanisms of action. Eur Rev Appl Psychol 2012;62:197-203.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources