The influence of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation combined with ear copper needle scraping on the clinical efficacy and quality of life of patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss accompanied by tinnitus: A randomized controlled trial.

Plain-language guide to PMID 42090892 (2026): randomized controlled trial of Copper (Supplement) in 86 patients, tinnitus.

Key Facts

PMID: 42090892
Journal: American journal of otolaryngology
Year: 2026
Study type: Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Sheng X et al. (8 authors)
DOI: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2026.104851

What This Study Did, in Plain Language

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Copper (Supplement) in the context of tinnitus.

Patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) often experience tinnitus, which adversely affects hearing and quality of life.

International Traditional Medicine Clinical Trial Registry, No.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 86 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

In this randomized controlled trial, 86 patients with SSNHL accompanied by tinnitus were randomly assigned to control group or observation group, with 43 participants in each group.

Pure-tone average (PTA), tinnitus severity (tinnitus evaluation questionnaire [TEQ] and tinnitus handicap inventory in Chinese Version [THI]), and quality of life (SF-36) were evaluated before and after treatment.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized.

Because people in this Copper (Supplement) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Quality of Life, Tinnitus, Hearing Loss, Sensorineural, Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation, Acupuncture Points, Hearing Loss, Sudden and Needles.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Ear copper needle scraping, Pure-tone average, Sudden sensorineural hearing loss and Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Copper (Supplement) in 86 patients in people with tinnitus.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2026 (American journal of otolaryngology), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Copper (Supplement) compound page, Tinnitus research.

Our Notes on the Compound

Copper (Supplement): The active site of cytochrome c oxidase is described as containing copper ions that are essential for electron transfer.

Source: PubMed record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.