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Tinnitus

Also indexed as: Ringing in the Ears

Illustration

Roaring or ringing in your ears may mask other sounds and make it difficult to sleep. What can you do to tame tinnitus and hear clearly again? According to research or other evidence, the following self-care steps may be helpful:

What you need to know

  • Rest easy with melatonin
  • Improve sleep quality and relieve other symptoms of severe tinnitus by taking 3 mg of this natural hormone every night
  • Think zinc
  • See a health professional to determine if you are zinc-deficient; if so, taking 90 mg of this essential mineral per day (along with 2 or 3 mg per day of copper) for three months may help
  • Get a checkup
  • Visit your healthcare provider to find out if your tinnitus is caused by a treatable medical condition

These recommendations are not comprehensive and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. Continue reading the full tinnitus article for more in-depth, fully-referenced information on medicines, vitamins, herbs, and dietary and lifestyle changes that may be helpful.

About tinnitus

Rarely, tinnitus is due to an actual sound, such as blood rushing through an enlarged vein—a problem that requires medical treatment. More commonly the problem is due to nerve irritation from an unknown source or an underlying ear problem often induced by noise damage. The cause of tinnitus should be diagnosed by a doctor.

Product ratings for tinnitus

Science Ratings Nutritional Supplements Herbs
2Stars

Melatonin (insomnia-associated)

Zinc (for deficiency only)

  
1Star

Vitamin B12 (injection)

Ginkgo biloba

Periwinkle
See also:  Homeopathic Remedies for Tinnitus
3Stars Reliable and relatively consistent scientific data showing a substantial health benefit.
2Stars Contradictory, insufficient, or preliminary studies suggesting a health benefit or minimal health benefit.
1Star For an herb, supported by traditional use but minimal or no scientific evidence. For a supplement, little scientific support and/or minimal health benefit.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms may include hearing buzzing, roaring, ringing, whistling, or hissing sounds. These sounds may be intermittent, continuous, or pulsing. Tinnitus may interfere with normal activities and sleep, and there may be an associated decrease in the ability to hear conversation or other sounds in the environment.

Medical options

Treatment is typically directed at any underlying medical condition. In some cases, doctors recommend the use of a tinnitus masker, which is a hearing device that produces a sound that is more tolerable than the tinnitus. In addition, doctors may suggest the use of earplugs in the presence of loud noises to prevent damage to the ear.

Dietary changes that may be helpful

Ménière’s disease (a condition characterized by tinnitus, vertigo, and hearing loss) is reportedly associated with various metabolic abnormalities, including elevations of serum cholesterol and/or triglycerides and abnormal regulation of blood sugar. In one trial, people with Ménière’s disease who replaced refined carbohydrates in their diet with foods high in fiber and complex carbohydrates frequently experienced an improvement or disappearance of their tinnitus.1

Vitamins that may be helpful

Zinc supplements have been used to treat people who had both tinnitus and hearing loss (usually age-related). Of those who had initially low blood levels of zinc, about 25% experienced an improvement in tinnitus after taking zinc (90–150 mg per day for three to six months).2 Such large amounts of zinc should be monitored by a doctor. Two controlled clinical trials3 4 found no benefit from zinc supplementation (66 mg per day in one double-blind trial) in people with tinnitus. However, participants in these studies were not zinc deficient. Preliminary research suggests that zinc supplementation is only helpful for tinnitus in people who are zinc deficient.5 A doctor can measure blood levels of zinc.

In a double-blind trial, melatonin supplementation (3 mg taken nightly) improved the symptoms of tinnitus.6 Although improvement did not reach statistical significance for all participants, the results were significant in those who reported more severe symptoms (such as two-sided vs. one-sided tinnitus). Among participants who had difficulty sleeping due to tinnitus, 47% of those who took melatonin reported sleep improvement after one month, compared with only 20% of those who took placebo. Similar improvements in tinnitus were reported in a preliminary trial that used 3 mg of melatonin each night for four weeks.7

People exposed to loud noise on the job who develop tinnitus are commonly deficient in Vitamin B12.8 Intramuscular injections of vitamin B12 reduced the severity of tinnitus in some of these people. Injectable vitamin B12 is available only by prescription. The effect of oral vitamin B12 on tinnitus has not been studied.

Are there any side effects or interactions?
Refer to the individual supplement for information about any side effects or interactions.

Herbs that may be helpful

Lesser periwinkle(Vinca minor) contains a compound known as vincamine. Extracts containing vincamine have been used in Germany to help decrease tinnitus.9 Preliminary clinical trial data show that vinpocetine, a semi-synthetic version of vincamine, can help reduce symptoms in people whose tinnitus is due to poor blood flow.10 Because these extracts are not widely available outside of Germany, consult with a doctor knowledgeable in botanical medicine about obtaining them.

Ginkgo biloba has been used to treat tinnitus, with mixed results.11 The largest placebo-controlled trial to date failed to find any effect of 150 mg per day of ginkgo extract in people with tinnitus.12 Two smaller, controlled trials have found that standardized ginkgo extract (120 mg per day, containing 24% flavone glycosides and 6% terpene lactones), was effective at relieving the symptoms of tinnitus.13 14 One trial failed to find ginkgo beneficial, but used less than 30 mg of ginkgo extract per day, an amount unlikely to have any therapeutic effect.15

Are there any side effects or interactions?
Refer to the individual herb for information about any side effects or interactions.

Holistic approaches that may be helpful

Acupuncture has been studied as a treatment for tinnitus in several controlled trials. Preliminary trials have reported improvement in symptoms of tinnitus following acupuncture treatment, but this relief was either not permanent or did not reach statistical significance.16 Most trials have shown no advantage of acupuncture treatment over placebo for the treatment of tinnitus.17 18 19 20 21 22 23 A review of clinical trials concluded that acupuncture is not an effective treatment for tinnitus.24

References:

1. Spencer JT Jr. Hyperlipoproteinemia, hyperinsulinism, and Meniere’s disease. South Med J 1981;74:1194–7.

2. Shambaugh GE. Zinc and presbycusis. Am J Otol 1985;6:116–7.

3. Paaske PB, Pedersen CB, Kjems G, Sam IL. Zinc in the management of tinnitus. Placebo-controlled trial. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1991;100:647–9.

4. Paaske PB, Kjems G, Pedersen CB, Sam ILK. Zinc in the management of tinnitus. Placebo-controlled trial. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1991;100:647–9.

5. Ochi K, Ohashi T, Kinoshita H, et al. The serum zinc level in patients with tinnitus and the effect of zinc treatment. Nippon Jibiinkoka Gakkai Kaiho 1997;100:915–9 [in Japanese].

6. Rosenberg SI, Silverstein H, Rowan PT, Olds MJ. Effect of melatonin on tinnitus. Laryngoscope 1998;108:305–10.

7. Megwalu UC, Finnell JE, Piccirillo JF. The effects of melatonin on tinnitus and sleep. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2006;134:210–3.

8. Shemesh Z, Attias J, Ornan M, et al. Vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with chronic tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss. Am J Otolaryngol 1993;14:94–9.

9. Weiss RF. Herbal Medicine. Gothenburg, Sweden: Ab Arcanum and Beaconsfield, UK: Beaconsfield Publishers Ltd, 1988, 181.

10. Ribarti O, Zelen B, Kollar B. Ethyl apovincaminate in the treatment of sensorineural impairment of hearing. Arzneimittelforschung 1976;26:1977–80.

11. Ernst E, Stevinson C. Ginkgo biloba for tinnitus: a review. Clin Otolaryngol 1999;24:164–7.

12. Drew S, Davies E. Effectiveness of Ginkgo biloba in treating tinnitus: double blind, placebo-controlled trial. BMJ 2001;322:1–6.

13. Meyer B. A multicenter randomized double-blind study of Ginkgo biloba extract versus placebo in the treatment of tinnitus. In Rokan (Ginkgo biloba): Recent Results in Pharmacology and Clinic, ed. EW Funfgeld. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1988, 245–50.

14. Morgenstern C, Biermann E. Ginkgo biloba special extract EGb 761 in the treatment of tinnitus aurium: Results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Fortschr Med 1997;115:7–11.

15. Holgers K, Axelsson A, Pringle I. Ginkgo biloba extract from the treatment of tinnitus. Audiol 1994;33:85–92.

16. Furugard S, Hedin PJ, Eggertz A, Laurent C. Acupuncture worth trying in severe tinnitus. Lakartidningen 1998;95:1922–8 [in Swedish].

17. Nielsen OJ, Moller K, Jorgensen KE. The effect of traditional Chinese acupuncture on severe tinnitus. A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study with an open therapeutic surveillance. Ugeskr Laeger 1999;161:424–9 [in Danish].

18. Vilholm OJ, Moller K, Jorgensen K. Effect of traditional Chinese acupuncture on severe tinnitus: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical investigation with open therapeutic control. Br J Audiol 1998;32:197–204.

19. Axelsson A, Andersson S, Gu LD. Acupuncture in the management of tinnitus: a placebo-controlled study. Audiology 1994;33:351–60.

20. Nilsson S, Axelsson A, Li De G. Acupuncture for tinnitus management. Laryngoscope 1988;98:664–7.

21. Thomas M, Laurell G, Lundeberg T. Acupuncture for the alleviation of tinnitus. Scand Audiol 1992;21:245–51.

22. Marks NJ, Emery P, Onisiphorou C. A controlled trial of acupuncture in tinnitus. J Laryngol Otol 1984;98:1103–9.

23. Hansen PE, Hansen JH, Bentzen O. Acupuncture treatment of chronic unilateral tinnitus—a double-blind cross-over trial. Clin Otolaryngol 1982;7:325–9.

24. Park J, White AR, Ernst E. Efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for tinnitus: a systematic review. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2000;126:489–92 [review].
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