Reviewing Kampo medicine (Traditional Japanese Herbal Medicine) for otology/neurotology diseases.

Kampo medicine, a traditional Japanese herbal medicine, is used for the treatment of otologic and neurotologic diseases in Japan and other Asian countries. However, only Japanese medical doctors can prescribe both Kampo and modern (Western) medicine. Since a medical doctor can perform not only the diagnosis but also Kampo treatment, it is expected that the quality of clinical studies on traditional herbal medicine is higher in Japan than that in other countries. However, there is no Kampo review written in English language for the treatment of otology/neurotology diseases. Herein, we would like to demonstrate evidence of Kampo treatment for otology/neurotology diseases according to previous studies in Japan.