“Acupuncture seems to have some value”
Tried it with a couple different Chinese acupuncturists. No relief at all. Even had the gold pins that stay in your ears for about a week.
Typically, about 17% of people won’t get much of a response from any given therapy, which fits the standard distribution curve to a ‘t’. I knew a woman who went to a top notch acupuncture MD, and he might as well have been inserting needles into a mannequin. Even he was impressed by her complete lack of response.
Traditional Chinese medicine evolved regionally, with acupuncture favored in one region, herbalism in another, and more conventional massage, along with moxibustion (vacuum cups) in a third, because each form of medicine was best for that region. Over a long time, they really figured out some neat tricks, and, once stripped of mysticism, noted some biological processes that still haven’t been figured out in the west.
Well, if first you don’t succeed, in this case you might try Chinese herbalism. One herbal formula that might be available at a Chinese herbal store, used for tinnitus and deafness:
Mingmu Dihuang Wan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingmu_Dihuang_Wan
And patience is a virtue with this one, as it is noted that it takes a while for it to have effect.