The Effect of Treatment with a Herbal Formulation of Salvia hydrangea, Citrus aurantium, Lipiacitriodora, and elm bark on the Intensity of Tinnitus
The Effect of Treatment with a Herbal Formulation of Salvia hydrangea, Citrus aurantium, Lipiacitriodora, and elm bark on the Intensity of Tinnitus
The Effect of Treatment with a Herbal Formulation of Salvia hydrangea,
Citrus aurantium, Lipiacitriodora, and elm bark on the Intensity of Tinnitus
Qasem Karimi1, Mansour Soltani2, Tahereh Khazaei3, Mohammad Molkaneh4,
Mohammad Reza Mofateh1
1 Assistant professor of ENT. Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Birjand, Iran.
2 Master of science in nursing Critical care, paramedic faculty, Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Birjand, Iran.
3 Master of science in anaesthesia, paramedic faculty, Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Birjand, Iran.
4 Assistant professor of Biochemistry. Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Birjand, Iran.
Background and objectives: Tinnitus is a symptom of an underlying medical condition that is associated with hearing loss in humans. It is a subjective disease in which patients hear voices that others cannot hear.
Increase in noise pollution, growing development of communication devices, and the long-ranging 8-year war in our country has further accelerated the spread of this disorder. Given that no definitive medical or surgical treatment has been confirmed for the same, new researches to improve treatment options is urgent. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the formulation prepared from Salvia hydrangea, Citrus aurantium, Lipiacitriodora, and elm bark on the status of tinnitus.
Materials and Methods: In this single-blind clinical trial, 144 patients with tinnitus were selected based on pre-defined inclusion criteria and then randomly divided into
3 groups: Herbal formulation, cinnarizine, and placebo groups, and the amount and intensity of tinnitus was measured based on the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) criteria before and on 28 and 56 days of the treatment. Data was analyzed by the statistical software SPSS16, repeated measurement, one way, and x2 for comparison within and among groups, with the significance level set at p < 0.05.
Results: Comparison of tinnitus based on THI criteria differed among the 3 groups on 28 and 56 days of intervention, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). This difference was more significant between the cinnarizine and placebo groups. The mean severity of tinnitus, based on the VAS score, differed among the three groups on 28 and 56 days after intervention, although the difference was not statistically significant. Discussion and Conclusion: Herbal formulation was effective on tinnitus alleviation, but its effect was not superior to that of conventionally used chemical drug cinnarizine.