Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no external sound is present. You might hear ringing, buzzing, hissing, whistling, clicking, roaring, chirping, whooshing, or static. More than 50 million Americans have the condition. For one in 50 sufferers, the nonstop noise is so maddening and debilitating that they want to commit suicide.
There are many possible causes of tinnitus, with aging, loud noises, and medication being the most common. Unfortunately, there are no known cures. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. Many treatments can help ease the inner noise of tinnitus. More good news: Tinnitus rarely gets worse. If one treatment doesn’t work, try another, because what didn’t work for another tinnitus sufferer might work for you.,Find the treatment (or treatments) that turn down your inner sound. If they try, nine out of 10 people with tinnitus will find one or more treatments that help.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) teaches you to reframe your experience of the sound so that it’s easier to live with. It stops the sound from being in the foreground of your experience, and puts it in the background. Think of it this way: If you are a room with an overhead light, it might be annoying. But do you lift up your head and stare at the light? No, you ignore it. Similarly, when you find yourself focused on the sound, focus your attention on something else to push it to the background.
For many people, this technique works wonders, but it won’t work for everyone. People with severe tinnitus or those whose brains are hardwired to attend to a physical disturbance—like a person who can’t stop scratching an itchy mosquito bite—aren’t likely to benefit.
The foods you eat and the supplements you take may help tinnitus. There are four main dietary culprits in tinnitus: salt, caffeine, alcohol, and simple sugars. Reduce your intake and see if it helps. If your tinnitus is relatively mild, say, three out of 10 on a scale of loudness from one to 10—just cutting out your daily cup of coffee might help a lot. Other dietary culprits include artificial sweeteners, MSG, and food colorings and dyes.
Hundreds of studies show that specific nutrients and herbal extracts can help reduce tinnitus. For example, a study in the American Journal of Otolaryngology showed that 50 percent of people with tinnitus had a deficiency of vitamin B12. Supplementing the diet with 1,000 micrograms (mcg) per week of vitamin B12 improved tinnitus by 60 percent.
The herb ginkgo biloba often helps with tinnitus in spite of a much-quoted 2001 study that showed no effect. The problem with that study: The dose was far too low at 150 milligrams (mg) daily. The correct dose is 240 mg, twice a day. More than two dozen studies show the power of ginkgo biloba to help tinnitus.
For a complete, reliable delivery of potency-tested nutrients and herbs that may ease tinnitus, consider the Arches brand, which produces the Tinnitus Formula (ginkgo biloba, garlic extract, zinc), the Tinnitus Stress Formula (B-complex vitamins), and the Tinnitus B12 Formula (B12). (Please note: Dr. Seidman does not have any financial affiliation with Arches, but does recommend the products to his tinnitus patients.) Try all three of these products (the Arches Tinnitus Combo Pack) for three months. If they work, stay on the supplements. If they don’t work, stop the therapy.
This approach includes two main techniques: masking (adding another sound) or wearing a hearing aid.
TRT combines sound therapy with counseling that addresses the psychological and emotional responses to tinnitus. It helps you change your reaction to the inner noise, reducing stress and anxiety. It can also include CBT. The goal: Learning to interpret your tinnitus as an insignificant sound so that it no longer triggers an emotional response. A meta-analysis of 13 studies on TRT, published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology in 2022, concluded the approach was “an effective treatment for tinnitus.”
There are more than 8,000 drugs that can cause tinnitus, including very common medications like aspirin (in large doses of 6,000 or more milligrams a day). Basically, any drug you’re taking can cause tinnitus. If you are among the one in 50 for whom tinnitus is disabling, it may be worth talking to your doctor about eliminating or switching medications.
The most common culprits include high-dose aspirin and other non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); aminoglycosides, a class of antibiotics that includes streptomycin and gentamicin (used in high doses and for extended periods); macrolides, a class of antibiotics that includes erythromycin and doxycycline; and erectile dysfunction drugs, like tadalafil (Cialis) and (sildenafil) Viagra.
If you have tried all of the above therapies and nothing has worked, consider Xanax, one of the best drugs for treating tinnitus. In a study from researchers at Oregon Health Sciences University, Xanax reduced tinnitus and annoyance in 13 of 17 patients. Only one of the 19 patients taking a placebo had any improvement.
If you can answer yes to either of the following questions, you are an ideal candidate for the drug:
The best dose for treating the problem is 0.5 mg, three times a day. (Taking it only at bedtime is not a treatment for tinnitus.) For the first week of use, until you acclimate to the drug, don’t drive or use other heavy machinery.
Don’t let anyone sell you snake oil. There are many “cures” for tinnitus on the internet that are just a waste of money. Try one or more of these proven methods instead.
