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Tinnitus ist eine Erkrankung mit hoher Prävalenz, welche häufig psychische Störungen nach sich zieht, Mit der Studie sollte untersucht werden, in welchen konkreten Dimensionen die gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität bei Tinnituspatienten eingeschränkt ist, und wie sich diese Einschränkungen während und nach Therapie, einschließlich hyperbarer Sauerstofftherapie, ändern. 120 ambulant oder stationär behandelte Patienten mit Tinnitus wurden zu drei Zeitpunkten untersucht. Eingesetzt wurden die Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, das Multidimensinal Fatigue Inventory und der Lebensqualitätsfragebogen EORTC QLQ-C30. Im Vergleich zu Personen der Allgemeinbevölkerung waren die Tinnituspatienten in allen Bereichen beeinträchtigt, am stärksten in den Skalen Soziale, Kognitive, Emotionale und Rollen-Funktionsfähigkeit sowie im Bereich finanzielle Schwierigkeiten. Im Laufe der Therapie verbesserten sich die Werte, so dass sich der Abstand zum Niveauder Allgemeinbevölkerung etwa halbierte.

Denna artikel undersöker hur man kan skapa ökad förståelse för hörselskador i vardagliga ljudmiljöer med hjälp av en realtidssimulation. Den producerade simulationen är binaural, och innefattar olika element av hörselskador såsom hörselnedsättning och tinnitus, samt sköter uppspelning av producerade ljudmiljöer i ett 4.0-surroundformat. Artikeln tar avstamp i tidigare forskning, beskrivningar av hörselskador i vetenskaplig litteratur, samt självbedriven etnografi med hörselskadade individer. Processen för framtagningen av simulationen beskrivs, och de olika steg som tagits för att anlända vid en fullständig slutprodukt redogörs. Upplevelsen utvärderas med hjälp av kvalitativa användartester med 13 deltagande studenter, där resultatet pekar på att simulationen har bidragit till en ökad förståelse för hörselskador i vardagliga ljudmiljöer. / This article explores how a real-time simulation can contribute to better understanding regarding hearing impairments in everyday sound environments. The produced simulation is binaural, and includes different elements of hearing impairment such as hearing loss and tinnitus, and handles playback of produced sound environments in a 4.0-surround format. The article is built upon previous research, descriptions of hearing impairments in scientific literature, as well as self-executed ethnography with hearing impaired individuals. The process of designing the simulation is described, as well as the different steps taken in order to arrive at a final product. The experience is evaluated through qualitative user testing with 13 participating students, where the results indicate that the simulation has contributed to a better understanding of hearing impairments in everyday sound environments.

<p>Tinnitus is common, and some individuals with tinnitus display high levels of distress. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective in reducing tinnitus distress, but is rarely available. CBT-based self-help, with or without guidance, has yielded positive results in other problem areas, and one initial randomized controlled trial (RCT) has shown promising results for tinnitus.</p><p>This thesis is based on four studies;</p><p>Study I showed that Internet-based self-help treatment with e-mail guidance alleviated tinnitus distress among consecutive patients and was rated as credible as traditional treatments. Active participation in treatment predicted outcome.</p><p>Study II, an RCT, showed that an extended and more interactive version of the Internet-based self-help treatment with e-mail therapist support appeared to be equally effective as a group treatment. In study III, another RCT, a self-help book with weekly telephone support was superior to a wait-list control group. No strong evidence for the importance of telephone contact on outcome was found. In both study II and III, the positive outcome remained after one year and self-help approaches appeared more therapist time-effective compared to group treatment. Also, the received treatment-dose for patients in guided self-help was not lower than in the group treatment.</p><p>Study IV found that the ‘Stages of Change’, from the transtheoretical model, are probably not the right theoretical framework to use with tinnitus patients. Predictors of outcome were found, but they were not in line with the theory behind the Stages of Change. The predictors were better understood when conceptualized as coping, showing that helplessness and less coping before treatment correlated with better outcome.</p><p>In sum, guided cognitive behavioural self-help can decrease tinnitus distress. It appears to be therapist time-effective and shows effects comparable to or slightly below traditional CBT for tinnitus. Effects remain one year after treatment and generalize to a routine clinical setting.</p>

Decreased sound tolerance (DST) conditions, including misophonia and hyperacusis, are emerging clinical conditions in behavioral medicine. Misophonia involves an extreme emotional response (often anger, disgust, or annoyance) to specific sounds (such as people chewing, swallowing, tapping their foot on the floor, etc.), while hyperacusis is defined by high sensitivity to sounds below normal sound sensitivity thresholds. Although research on these DST conditions is increasing, clearly defined prevalence rates, associations with other mental health conditions, and development of assessment tools that can identify and differentiate DST symptoms are needed. Research and clinical reports also suggest that DST problems are more likely to occur in individuals affected by tinnitus, and that drawing upon a bio-psychosocial conceptualization of tinnitus and other behavioral medicine conditions may be useful in understanding and treating DST conditions. This cross-sectional survey study was administered to college student (N=451) and community adult (N=375) samples and investigated DST prevalence rates, clinical correlates, and risk factors and mechanisms of action for misophonia and hyperacusis. In addition, the study developed and validated a new scale to identify misophonia and hyperacusis type sound sensitivity. Nearly 35% of individuals surveyed reported some degree of general auditory sensitivity, with 15-63% endorsing misophonia symptoms, and 17-26% endorsing hyperacusis symptoms, with rates depending on assessment method. Moderate to strong correlations were found between DST conditions and other mental and physical health conditions, including obsessive compulsive disorder, autism-spectrum traits, anxiety, depression, social phobia, medical conditions, and somatic and neurobehavioral symptoms. Mediation models revealed that the process by which misophonia symptoms become clinically significant and functionally impairing is partially mediated by amplification of bodily sensations and anxiety sensitivity. Risk factors for functional impairment related to misophonia symptoms were identified in moderation analyses and included neuroticism, synesthesia, and sensory sensitivity. An assessment instrument, the DST-10, and its subscales the Loudness Sensitivity Scale and Human Sounds Scale, was subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and initial evidence for construct validity was demonstrated. This study was the first to assess hyperacusis, misophonia, and tinnitus rates in large general population samples and provides initial support for conceptualizing DST problems as behavioral medicine conditions.

Based on the former studies, there is evidence of tinnitus being associated with performance on cognitive ability tests (for example Andersson et al. 2009, Hallam et al. 2004). The topic of my bachelor thesis was to unravel how depression, stress and anxiety connected with tinnitus symptoms are related to cognitive abilities such as verbal fluency, inhibition ability and working memory capacity. In order to fill an existing gap of knowledge, the relationship of different severity of stress caused by tinnitus symptoms as measured with Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and cognitive abilities and depression and anxiety symptoms was emphasized. The experiment group was divided into two subgroups, those with lower and higher level of perceived tinnitus severity and the differences in test scores between groups were investigated with one-way analysis of variance. As a result, significant differences between the two tinnitus patient groups were found in the level of performance in inhibition task where participants were asked to give the font color of congruent color - word pair as an answer. It was also studied whether there were correlations between perceived severity of tinnitus symptoms, depression and anxiety symptoms, working memory capacity and inhibition ability. As a result of correlation analysis, this study confirmed the connection between tinnitus symptoms and anxiety and depression symptoms found in previous studies, and a significant correlation was found between THI scores and anxiety symptoms, and THI scores and C inhibition test scores where the participant was asked to name the font color from incongruent color-word pairs. The results of this study suggest that there is a connection between the level of perceived tinnitus severity and the ability to name font color of incongruent color - word pair. The current study found no evidence about the connection between THI scores and other cognitive abilities as well as anxiety and depression symptoms, even though the THI scores correlated with both anxiety symptom scores and with the reaction times of an inhibition task where the participants were asked to point out the font color from incongruent color - word pairs.

Introdução: Entre as queixas mais comuns dentro dos consultórios de otorrinolaringologia e fonoaudiologia, o zumbido destaca-se como uma das que geram mais incômodo ao indivíduo. Existem várias modalidades para o tratamento do zumbido, com destaque para a terapia farmacêutica, fisioterapia, psicoterapia, cirurgia, e dentre as possibilidades de intervenção, vem crescendo o interesse no uso do laser de baixa intensidade. No entanto, apesar de existir na literatura internacional artigos sobre este assunto, há inúmeras divergências quanto ao protocolo de aplicação e a eficácia desse tratamento. Proposição: Verificar o efeito da fotobiomodulação em indivíduos com sintoma de zumbido crônico sem perda auditiva. Casuística e Métodos: O estudo foi desenvolvido no Centro Auditivo Ouvir Bauru, com a aprovação do Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa e aquiescência do paciente confirmada mediante a assinatura do Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido. Os pacientes que se enquadravam nos critérios de inclusão foram divididos aleatoriamente em Grupo 1: uso do laser de baixa intensidade e Grupo 2: uso do placebo. Foi realizado anamnese com os indivíduos antes da realização da bateria de testes e os dados coletados foram anotados no prontuário do mesmo. Após entrevista, iniciou-se a bateria de exames audiológicos que incluiu: audiometria tonal, audiometria de altas frequências, imitanciometria e acufenometria para descarte de perda auditiva, questionário Tinnitus Handicap Inventory para mensurar o nível de incomodo com o zumbido pré e pós tratamento e escala visual analógica para mensurar o nível de incômodo pré e pós aplicação do laser. O protocolo de fotobiomodulação incluiu 12 sessões de laser de baixa intensidade para o Grupo 1 e placebo para o Grupo 2, utilizando 4J na veia lingual no comprimento de onda vermelho, 4J na membrana timpânica direita e esquerda, no comprimento de onda vermelho e 9J na mastoide direita e esquerda, no comprimento de onda infra-vermelho. Resultados: a amostra foi composta por 20 pacientes, sendo oito do sexo feminino e 12 do sexo masculino com média de idade de 54 anos. Não houve diferença estatística em função do grupo de intervenção e do momento de avaliação para os desfechos audiometria de altas frequências e acufenometria. A desvantagem dos indivíduos com zumbido crônico reduziu significativamente após a intervenção, independentemente da intervenção. Pode-se averiguar que a insatisfação dos indivíduos com zumbido crônico diminuiu significativamente com diferença entre as sessões iniciais e finais, independentemente do grupo de intervenção, porém, o Grupo 1 apresentou redução significativamente maior que o Grupo 2, independentemente do momento de avaliação e do número da sessão. Conclusão: Conclui-se que indivíduos com zumbido crônico reduziram a desvantagem independentemente do grupo de intervenção, e o nível de insatisfação com o zumbido nas sessões iniciais em relação as finais independentemente do momento de avaliação e do grupo de intervenção. O grupo que recebeu a fotobiomodulação melhorou mais o nível de insatisfação com o zumbido, independentemente do momento de avaliação e do número da sessão. / Introduction: Among the most common complaints within otorhinolaryngology and audiology clinics, tinnitus stands out as one of the most uncomfortable for the subject. There are several modalities for the treatment of tinnitus, with emphasis on pharmaceutical therapy, physiotherapy, psychotherapy, surgery, and among the possibilities of intervention, there is growing significance in the use of low level laser. Nevertheless, despite many articles in the international literature about this theme, there are several disagreements regarding the protocol of application and the efficacy of this treatment. Proposition: To verify the effect of laser therapy in individuals with chronic tinnitus symptom without hearing loss. Methods: The study was developed at the Centro Auditivo Ouvir - Bauru, with the acceptance of the Research Ethics Committee and patient acquiescence confirmed by signing the Informed Consent Term. Patients who suited the inclusion criteria were randomly set to Group 1: treated with low level laser and Group 2: treated with placebo laser. Anamnesis was applied with the individuals before the battery of tests and the data collected were registered in the individuals folder. after the interview, the audiological exams started, which included: tonal audiometry, high frequency audiometry, immittanciometry and acufenometry for hearing loss disposal, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory to measure the level of discomfort with tinnitus pre and post treatment and visual analogue scale to measure the level of discomfort with tinnitus pre and post laser application. The Laser Therapy protocol included 12 laser therapy sessions for Group 1 and placebo laser for Group 2, using 4J in the lingual vein in the red wavelength, 4J in the right and left tympanic membrane, in the red wavelength, and 9J in the right and left mastoid, at the infra-red wavelength. Results: the sample consisted of 20 patients, eight females and 12 males with the average of 54 years-old. There was no statistical difference in function of the intervention group and the moment of evaluation for the high frequency audiometry and acuphenometry outcomes. The disadvantage of individuals with chronic tinnitus reduced significantly after the intervention, regardless of the intervention. It can be verified that the annoyance of individuals with chronic tinnitus decreased significantly with difference between the initial and final sessions, independently of the intervention group, but Group 1 presented a greater reduction than Group 2, independently of the moment of evaluation and the number of the session. Conclusion: It was concluded that individuals with chronic tinnitus reduced the disadvantage independently of the intervention group, and the level of discontentment with tinnitus in the initial sessions according to the final ones independently of the moment of evaluation and the intervention group. The group receiving laser therapy further improved the level of tinnitus dissatisfaction, regardless of timing and session number.

INTRODUÇÃO: A misofonia é caracterizada pela aversão a sons bem seletivos, que provocam uma forte reação emocional. Foi proposto que a misofonia, assim como o zumbido, esteja associada à hiperconectividade entre os sistemas auditivo e límbico. Indivíduos com zumbido de incômodo significativo podem apresentar comprometimento da atenção seletiva, o que ainda não foi demonstrado no caso da misofonia. OBJETIVO: caracterizar uma amostra de indivíduos com misofonia e compará-la com dois grupos controle, um com zumbido (sem misofonia) e outro assintomático (sem zumbido e sem misofonia). METODOLOGIA: Foram avaliados 40 sujeitos normo-ouvintes, sendo 10 com misofonia (grupo misofonia - GM), 10 com zumbido (sem misofonia) (grupo controle zumbido - GCZ) e 20 sem zumbido e sem misofonia (grupo controle assintomático - GCA). Foi realizada anamnese geral em todos os grupos e anamnese específica apenas para o GM. Nos três grupos, foi aplicado o Teste de Identificação de Sentenças Dicóticas em três situações. Na primeira, foi realizado o exame padrão. Em seguida, foi aplicado incluindo mensagem competitiva, uma com som de mastigação (exame mastigação), e outra com white noise (exame white noise). RESULTADOS: A amostra do GM apontou que os primeiros sintomas da misofonia foram percebidos ainda na infância ou adolescência (média 11,5 anos). O grau de incômodo variou de 6 a 10 na escala visual analógica e, dentre os 10 participantes do GM, nove (90%) responderam que a misofonia atrapalha, sempre ou às vezes, a vida social e profissional. No teste de Identificação de Sentenças Dicóticas, foi observado que no exame mastigação, as médias da porcentagem de acertos diferem entre os grupos GM e GCA (valor-p = 0,027) e entre os grupos GM e GCZ (valor-p = 0,002), sendo menor em ambos os casos no GM. Para os exames padrão e white noise, não há diferença entre as médias da porcentagem de acertos nos três grupos (valores-p >= 0,452). CONCLUSÃO: os participantes do GM apresentaram menor porcentagem de acertos no Teste de Identificação de Sentenças Dicóticas na situação de apresentação de um ruído distraidor (exame mastigação) em relação ao mesmo teste aplicado em situação padrão ou white noise, sugerindo que indivíduos com misofonia podem apresentar alteração da atenção seletiva quando expostos a sons que desencadeiam esta condição / INTRODUCTION: Misophonia is characterized by the aversion to very selective sounds, which evoke a strong emotional reaction. It has been proposed that misophonia, as well as tinnitus, is associated with hyperconnectivity between the auditory and limbic systems. Individuals with bothersome tinnitus may have selective attention impairment, but it has not been demonstrated in case of misophonia yet. OBJECTIVE: to characterize a sample of misophonic subjects and compare it to two control groups, one with tinnitus individuals (without misophonia) and the other one with asymptomatic individuals (without misophonia and without tinnitus), regarding self-perception of the condition and selective attention. METHODOLOGY: we had evaluated 40 normal hearing participants: 10 with misophonia (GM), 10 with tinnitus (without misophonia) (GCZ) and 20 without tinnitus and without misophonia (GCA). General questionnare was applied in all of three groups and specific misophonia questionnaire was applied only in GM. In order to evaluate the selective attention, it was applied the Dichotic Sentence Identification (DSI) Test in three situations: In the first one, it was applied the original test. Then, the test was applied in two other situations including two competitive sounds, one with chewing sound (chewing test), and the other one with white noise sound (white noise test). RESULTS: The GM sample indicated that the onset of misophonia occurred in childhood or adolescence (mean 11.5 years). According to the visual analog scale, the discomfort with misophonia ranged from 5 to 10, and nine (90%) participants answered that misophonia always or sometimes limits their social and professional interactions. In the chewing test, it was observed that the average of correct responses differed between GM and GCA groups (pvalue = 0.027) and between GM and GCZ groups (p-value = 0.002), in both cases it was lower in GM. In the original and white noise tests, no difference was observed between the averages of correct responses in the three groups (p-values >= 0.452). CONCLUSION: The GM participants had a lower percentage of correct responses in the chewing test, suggesting that individuals with misophonia may have selective attention impairment when they are exposed to sounds that trigger the condition

Introdução: O zumbido pode ser definido como a percepção consciente de um som, sem a participação de uma fonte sonora externa. A presença isolada do zumbido, sem a perda auditiva associada sugere que o mesmo pode ser o primeiro sintoma de alterações cocleares que somente serão percebidas depois do aparecimento da perda. Considerando que o zumbido está frequentemente relacionado a disfunções cocleares e mais especificamente a alterações nas células ciliadas, e que nesse caso as funções desempenhadas por elas podem estar comprometidas em algum grau, é possível que alterações nos mecanismos cocleares em pacientes com limiares auditivos ditos normais e queixa de zumbido sejam encontradas. Objetivo: O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar as diferenças entre as respostas cocleares em mensurações eletroacústicas e psicoacústicas em indivíduos sem perda auditiva, com e sem queixa de zumbido. Método: Participaram do estudo 57 indivíduos com limiares audiométricos dentro dos padrões de normalidade, divididos em dois grupos: grupo-controle composto por 41 sujeitos (81 orelhas) sem queixa de zumbido, e grupo-zumbido composto por 16 sujeitos (31 orelhas) com queixa de zumbido. Os sujeitos foram submetidos à pesquisa das Curvas de Crescimento das Emissões Otoacústicas Produto de Distorção, pesquisa das Curvas Psicofísicas de Sintonia e aplicação do teste TEN. Resultados: Para as CC-EOAPD somente foi observada diferença estatística nas curvas de 3000 e 6000 Hz, para L2=45 dBNPS e L2=55 dBNPS, respectivamente. Para as curvas psicofísicas de sintonia, foram observadas diferenças estatísticas localizadas nas extremidades das curvas, isto é, para a CPS de 2000 Hz com ruído de 6000 e 8000, para a CPS de 3000 Hz, para 8000 Hz, para a CPS de 4000 Hz para o ruído de 2000 e 8000 Hz e para as CPS de 6000 e 8000 Hz para os ruídos de 3000 e 2000 Hz. Para o teste TEN, não foi encontrada presença de zonas mortas da cóclea, entretanto foi observado padrão diferente entre os grupos, caracterizado pelo limiar na presença de ruído ipsilateral estatisticamente mais elevado no grupo-zumbido do que no grupo-controle. Conclusão: Foi observado que apesar de audiologicamente normais, os grupos apresentam desempenhos estatisticamente distintos nos testes aplicados, principalmente nas Curvas Psicofísicas de Sintonia e no teste TEN, evidenciando funcionamentos cocleares diferentes que, possivelmente, comprometem em algum grau os mecanismos cocleares, principalmente a seletividade de frequência / Introduction: Tinnitus can be defined as the conscious perception of a sound without the participation of an external sound source. The association between tinnitus and hearing loss has been well described. The isolated presence of tinnitus, without hearing loss, suggests that it may be the first symptom of cochlear dysfunctions that will be noticed only after the emergence of the hearing loss. Whereas tinnitus is often related to cochlear dysfunction, specifically in hair cells, their mechanisms could be impaired to some degree. Thus, patients with normal hearing and tinnitus, could show some dysfunctions in cochlear mechanisms. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the differences between the cochlear responses in electroacoustic and psychoacoustic measurements in subjects with normal hearing, with and without tinnitus. Method: The study included 57 subjects with audiometric thresholds within normal limits, divided into two groups: control group consisted of 41 subjects (81 ears) without tinnitus and tinnitus group consisted of 16 subjects (31 ears) with tinnitus. The subjects were tested for DPOAE-I/O functions, Psychophysical Tuning Curves (PTC) and TEN test. Results: For DPOAE-I/O only statistical difference was observed in the curves of 3000 and 6000 Hz, for L2 = 45 dBSPL and L2 = 55 dBSPL respectively. For the psychophysical tuning curves, statistical differences were observed at the ends of the curves, i.e. for the PTC 2000 Hz with noise 6000 and 8000 to 3000 PTC Hz to 8000 Hz to 4000 Hz PTC for noise 2000 and 8000 Hz and the PTC 6000 and 8000 Hz for the noise of 3000 Hz and 2000 TEN For the TEN test, there were no presence of \"dead regions in the cochlea,\" however different pattern was observed among groups, characterized by the presence of noise threshold ipsilateral statistically higher in the tinnitus group than the control group. Conclusion: We found that despite normal hearing, the groups have statistically different performances in the test applied, especially in psychophysical tuning curves and the TEN test, showing that different runs cochlear possibly commit to some degree the cochlear mechanisms, mainly the frequency selectivity

Introdução: a relação entre zumbido e pontos-gatilho miofasciais têm sido debatida, mas poucas são as condutas terapêuticas propostas. Este estudo teve os objetivos de verificar: (1) a eficácia da desativação dos pontos-gatilho miofasciais para o alívio do zumbido em pacientes com síndrome dolorosa miofascial, (2) a correlação de lateralidade entre zumbido e dor e a associação entre a melhora de ambos e (3) se o fenômeno da modulação do zumbido durante a palpação dos pontos-gatilho apresenta bom prognóstico para este tratamento. Métodos: um ensaio clínico randomizado duplo-cego e placebo controlado foi desenvolvido para verificar a eficácia de 10 sessões de desativação dos pontos-gatilho em uma população com zumbido e síndrome dolorosa miofascial. Os critérios de inclusão eram: presença de zumbido e pelo menos um ponto-gatilho ativo em oito possíveis músculos da região da cabeça, pescoço ou cintura escapular, excluindo-se aqueles com dor generalizada ou tratamento recente para ambos os sintomas. Depois de triados por um otorrinolaringologista e avaliados por uma \"pesquisadora cega\" no início e após a quinta e décima sessões de tratamento, os indivíduos foram encaminhados para uma fisioterapeuta, que realizou a randomização em dois grupos e o tratamento de ambos. O grupo experimental foi submetido à desativação dos pontos-gatilho por digito-pressão e a orientações de condutas domiciliares e o grupo controle, a uma leve pressão em pontos adjacentes aos pontos-gatilho existentes. Resultados: o tratamento do grupo experimental foi mais eficaz em relação à intensidade do zumbido, número de sons, valor total do questionário de gravidade do zumbido e intensidade da modulação (p< 0,001). Houve associação entre a melhora da dor e a melhora do zumbido (p= 0,013; correlação de Spearman= 0,426) e o tratamento foi eficaz em todas as variáveis relacionadas à dor (p< 0,001) como: a intensidade da dor, valor do algômetro e número de pontos-gatilho ativos e latentes totais. Houve correlação de lateralidade entre os lados de pior zumbido e de dor em 54,4% dos casos (Kappa= 0,32; p< 0,001). A modulação do zumbido foi bastante freqüente no grupo experimental e controle (75,7% e 83,3% respectivamente), porém este fenômeno não influencia o prognóstico deste tratamento. No entanto, diminuir a intensidade do zumbido na modulação foi uma condição importante para um bom resultado de alívio do zumbido (p= 0,002). Conclusões: o grupo experimental foi mais eficaz em todas as variáveis analisadas após o tratamento de desativação dos pontos-gatilho miofasciais. Também foi observada uma correlação de lateralidade de ambos os sintomas e a existência de uma relação direta entre a melhora da dor e a melhora do zumbido. Modular o zumbido na avaliação dos pontos-gatilho não influencia o prognóstico do tratamento, porém, diminuir a intensidade durante a modulação promove uma resposta maior de alívio do zumbido do que aqueles que aumentam a intensidade ou modificam o tipo de som. / Introduction: the relationship between tinnitus and myofascial trigger points has been subject to debate but few therapeutic guidelines have been proposed. This study aims at analyzing (1) efficacy of myofascial trigger point deactivation for the relief of tinnitus in patients with myofascial pain syndrome; (2) correlation of laterality between tinnitus and pain - and the relief of both of them - as well as (3) whether the presence of tinnitus modulation upon trigger point palpation represents good prognosis for the treatment. Methods: a double-blind randomized placebo controlled clinical trial was developed in order to ascertain efficacy of 10 sessions of myofascial trigger point deactivation in a population suffering from both tinnitus and myofascial pain syndrome. Inclusion criteria were: presence of tinnitus and at least one active trigger point in eight possible muscles of the head, neck or shoulder girdle, excluding patients with generalized pain or undergoing recent treatment for both symptoms. After having been selected by an otologist and evaluated by a \"blind researcher\" in the beginning and after the fifth and tenth session, subjects were directed to a physiotherapist, who randomized them in two groups and treated both. The experimental group was subject to myofascial trigger point deactivation by means of digital pressure and guidance related to procedures to be followed at home, whereas the control group was subject to light pressure in spots adjacent to the existing trigger points. Results: treatment of the experimental group was more effective in relation to tinnitus loudness, number of sounds, total value of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory as well as modulation intensity (p< 0,001). There was an association between pain relief and tinnitus relief (p= 0,013; Spearman correlation = 0,426) and treatment was effective in all pain-related variables (p< 0,001) such as: pain intensity, algometer value and amount of active and latent trigger points. Laterality correlation was also observed between the side with the worst tinnitus and the side with pain in 54.4% of the cases (Kappa= 0,32; p< 0,001). Tinnitus modulation was frequent in both experimental and control groups (75.7% e 83.3% respectively), even though such phenomenon does not influence the prognosis of the treatment. Nevertheless, diminishing tinnitus intensity was an important condition for tinnitus relief (p= 0,002). Conclusions: the experimental group was more effective in all variables subject to evaluation after treatment with myofascial trigger point deactivation. Laterality correlation of both symptoms was also observed as well as the existence of a direct link between pain relief and tinnitus relief. Modulation of tinnitus during trigger point evaluation does not influence the treatment prognosis, even though diminishing intensity during modulation allows more tinnitus relief than raising intensity or modifying the type of sound.