Hypnosis for tinnitus: what the evidence can and cannot tell you

What do tinnitus guidelines recommend?

The 2014 American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery guideline covers adults whose tinnitus has lasted six months or more and bothers them. It recommends CBT, and a hearing aid evaluation when there is hearing loss. Sound therapy is listed as an option. It recommends against routine use of antidepressants, anticonvulsants, anxiety medicines, supplements such as ginkgo, melatonin or zinc, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Hypnosis is not among its recommendations.^[1]

The UK's NICE guideline (2020) suggests stepped psychological care for tinnitus-related distress. The steps are digital CBT, then group programs such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy or CBT, then one-to-one CBT with a psychologist. NICE could not make a recommendation on sound therapy.^[2]

A 2020 Cochrane review of 28 studies with 2,733 people supports CBT. Compared with no treatment or a waiting list, CBT may reduce the impact of tinnitus on quality of life, about 11 points on a 100-point tinnitus handicap scale, where 7 points is considered a meaningful change. The evidence is low certainty, and there was no evidence for effects at 6 or 12 months.^[3]

What do the hypnosis studies show?

A 2008 review found that little formal research had been done, even though hypnosis practitioners often quoted a 70% success rate in promotional material. It concluded that hypnosis seems to help some people, but that how it compares with mainstream approaches was not clear.^[4] These are the main controlled studies we found.

• Mason et al., 1996 (randomized). 86 patients got three sessions of hypnotherapy or one counselling session. Hypnotherapy was no better on loudness matching, symptom severity scores or a rating scale. More people in the hypnotherapy group said they felt generally improved (45.5% vs 14.3%), but the authors could not say if that came from hypnosis or from extra time with a therapist.^[5]
• Attias et al., 1993. 45 men with tinnitus from noise exposure were assigned to matched groups: self-hypnosis, masking sounds, or attentive listening to their complaints. Self-hypnosis reduced tinnitus severity, attention partly helped, and masking did not. Patients were given the recordings to use when needed.^[6]
• Attias et al., 1990. The same group compared self-hypnosis with a brief sound played to the affected ear and with a waiting list. 73% of the self-hypnosis group said their tinnitus disappeared during sessions, versus 24% with the brief sound. Only the self-hypnosis group improved at one week and two months.^[7]
• Marks et al., 1985. 14 patients with one-sided tinnitus that had not responded to other treatment tried three hypnosis approaches. One responded strongly to suggestions to suppress the tinnitus. Five found the hypnotic state helped them tolerate it, though loudness and quality did not change.^[8]
• Ross et al., 2007 (not described as randomized). 393 inpatients did a 28-day program built around Ericksonian hypnosis, alongside other treatments. Tinnitus questionnaire scores improved more than in waiting-list controls and held at 12 months. Because hypnosis was one part of an intensive inpatient stay, the study cannot show what hypnosis itself contributed.^[9]

How to read this evidence

Two patterns repeat. First, when hypnosis helped, it mostly changed how people related to the sound, not the sound itself.^[5][8] That is also what CBT trials measure, the impact of tinnitus on daily life, and CBT has far more and newer trials behind it.^[3]

Second, attention matters. Attentive listening partly helped in one study, and in the only randomized trial the authors could not separate hypnosis from extra therapist time.^[5][6] Most tinnitus can only be heard by the person who has it, so studies rely on what people report, and expectation and support can move those reports.^[10] Our post on whether hypnosis works explains why the comparison group matters so much.

If you want to try hypnosis anyway

Hypnosis is not a proven tinnitus treatment. If you still want to try it, treat it as an extra, not a replacement:

• Get checked first. NIDCD advises starting with your primary care doctor, who can look for earwax, fluid or a medication cause, and may refer you to an ear, nose and throat specialist.^[10]
• Ask about CBT, including digital CBT, which is the first step in the NICE pathway.^[2]
• Pick a goal you can measure, such as how often tinnitus stops you reading or falling asleep, not whether the sound disappears.
• Stop if focusing on the sound makes it more intrusive. Our guide to self-hypnosis explains the basics.

Hypnova has not been studied for tinnitus and does not treat it. Its sessions are a general wellness tool.