Tinnitus is a common, yet poorly understood condition. In the UK, a large study using data from more than 500,000 people has found a prevalence of tinnitus of 16.2% (defined as any noise in the ear/s lasting longer than five minutes) and a prevalence of bothersome tinnitus as 3.8% (those who were moderately or severely bothered by their tinnitus on a four point Likert scale). Other international studies have also found a high prevalence of 30% with a total of 6% of the study population reporting incapacitating symptoms from tinnitus. Despite the high worldwide prevalence of tinnitus and the large number of proposed therapies available, there is a distinct paucity of well controlled trials in the literature to support an effective treatment.