Tinnitus, Subjective
Conditions
Keywords
somatosensory tinnitus, neck pain, kinesio taping
Brief summary
There is no specific treatment that can cure somatosensory tinnitus and usually conservative physical therapy modalities are used in the literature. The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of kinesio taping applied to sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezium and levator scapulae muscles on the somatosensory tinnitus associated with neck complaints.
Detailed description
The study was designed as a prospective, randomized controlled and double blind trial. Patients complaining of tinnitus were firstly subjected to otologic and audiologic evaluation by an otolaryngologist. Tinnitus characteristics, such as severity (Tinnitus handicap Index, tinnitus Visual Analog Scale- tinnitus VAS) , type (pulsatile/non-pulsatile), localization (unilateral/ bilateral) and the frequency (number of days with symptoms) were recorded. Patients were excluded if they had objective tinnitus, subjective tinnitus with hearing loss or Meniere's disease, vertigo, middle ear pathologies, intracranial pathologies, whiplash injury, previous cervical spinal surgery, pregnancy, infection, malignancy and if they received cervical physical rehabilitation program in the past 3 months. Patients who diagnosed with somatosensory tinnitus and concomitant neck complaints (cervical-VAS score \>2) at least 6 weeks were referred to physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinic. Before the treatment, participants' demographics data including age, gender, Body-Mass Index (BMI) and cervical pain VAS score were recorded and physical examinations (cervical joint range of motion (cervical-ROM), cervical manual muscle testing (cervical-MMT) and myofascial trigger points for sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezium and levator scapulae muscles) were performed by one investigator. Banding application performed for both groups once a week for four weeks. Tinnitus handicap index score, tinnitus VAS, ROM of the cervical joint, cervical MMT, cervical pain VAS, Neck Disability index score and myofascial trigger points of sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezium, levator scapula was evaluated in all subjects by the same investigator.
Interventions
OTHERKinesio tape
The Kinesio taping ( Kinesio Tex Gold, 2in x103.3 ft) was applied to sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezium and levator scapulae muscles by the muscle inhibition technique ( from insertion to origin of a muscle) for experimental group.
OTHERShame tape
For the Shame taping group, a placebo taping method considered to be ineffective ( not from insertion to origin of muscles) with the same material without tension and with the neck in neutral position was used.
Sponsors
Hitit University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Subject has somatosensory tinnitus * Subject has concomitant neck complaints (cervical-VAS score \>2) at least 6 weeks * Subject were referred to physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinic
Exclusion criteria
* History of objective tinnitus * History of subjective tinnitus with hearing loss * History of Meniere's disease * History of vertigo * Hiistory of middle ear pathologies * History of intracranial pathologies * History of whiplash injury * History of previous cervical spinal surgery * History of infection or malignancy * Pregnancy * History of having received cervical physical rehabilitation program in the past 3 months
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Tinnitus handicap Index (THI) | 4 weeks | The questionnaire comprises 25 items with a functional subscale (11 items), emotional subscale (9 items), and catastrophic subscale (5 items). Each question is rated as 0 (none), 2 (sometimes), or 4 (always). Total score range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived tinnitus handicap. |
| Tinnitus severity (tinnitus-VAS) | 4 weeks | The loudness of tinnitus was graded with a10 cm of visual analog scale (VAS, 0-10 cm; 0 means no tinnitus, 10 means extremely loud tinnitus) |
| Cervical pain (cervical-VAS) | 4 weeks | Pain intensity was measured with VAS which is used to measure musculoskeletal pain with very good reliability and validity (VAS, 0-10 cm; 0 means no pain, 10 means severe pain). |
| Neck Disability index score (NDI) | 4 weeks | The NDI is designed to assess self - reported neck functional status. The questionnaire comprises 10 items related to pain, activities of daily living, lifting, reading, headaches, concentration, work status, driving, sleeping and recreation, each rated on a 6-point Likert scale with a final score range of 0 (no disability) to 50 (major disability). Higher scores represent greater disability |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Outcome results
None listed