Tinnitus is a symptom of several underlying conditions. Your provider can help you narrow down the source of the tinnitus and help you deal with any health conditions you may find. If the underlying condition is curable, then tinnitus should cease. However, even with permanent hearing loss and nerve damage, proper care may decrease tinnitus symptoms.
Nutritional Deficiency
Some foods may directly affect your tinnitus symptoms. The most important foods to avoid include:
- Salt: Excess salt may increase tinnitus symptoms by increasing blood pressure and restricting blood flow to the nerves.
- Sugar: Excessive sugar decreases insulin sensitivity, damages blood vessels, and causes inflammation of the nerves throughout the body, which may contribute to tinnitus.
- Aspartame: This sugar substitute is an excitatory neurotransmitter that overstimulates nerves. The overexcitement depletes nutrition and can cause nerves to degrade.
- MSG: This flavoring agent is also an excitatory neurotransmitter.
- Saturated Fat: Excess cholesterol decreases blood flow to the nerves.
The most essential nutrients to include in your daily diet for proper nerve function include:
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: These healthy fats decrease inflammation and increase insulin sensitivity for various health benefits.
- Unprocessed Foods: Foods as close to their natural state as possible have fewer chemicals, cause less inflammation, and provide superior nutrition.
- High-Grade Ginkgo Biloba Extract: Studies have suggested that this extract calms overexcited nerves and protects them from damage. It is a powerful antioxidant and may increase blood circulation to nerves, ensuring they get the nutrition and oxygen they need to thrive.
- Zinc: The cochlea (inner ear) benefits from zinc to function properly. Studies have shown a correlation between zinc deficiency and tinnitus.
- Garlic: This pungent root vegetable has been linked to improved blood flow, lower cholesterol, and a reduced risk for heart disease.
- Vitamin B-12: This vitamin is essential for creating red blood cells and the proper function of the nervous system.
- Vitamin A: Vitamin A supports healthy nerves in the cochlea.
- Vitamin E: This powerful antioxidant helps prevent oxidative stress on nerves.
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Sinusitis
The eustachian tube connects the ear to the back of the nose. If air pressure changes, the tube opens to equalize pressure, which is why your ears pop when you change altitudes. If pus or fluid pools in the ear, the tube lets that fluid drain into your sinuses.
Allergies, flu, colds, or sinus infections can cause inflammation that affects the eustachian tube. Because the tube is so tiny, it doesn’t take much inflammation before it stops functioning. Pressure can build up in the ear, causing earaches. That pressure can also affect the ear’s functions, leading to tinnitus symptoms.
Temporary tinnitus caused by pressure buildup in the ear should rectify itself as the inflammation goes down unless the pressure remains too long and damages the ear’s structure.
Your provider can prescribe antibiotics for ear infections. A surgeon can relieve pressure with ear tubes (tiny channels implanted in the eardrum to allow liquids to escape). Proper nutrition and ear care can speed healing.
Earwax Impaction
Cerumen, which is the technical term for earwax, helps carry debris, dust, and dirt away from the delicate eardrum. If the earwax doesn’t drain properly, the wax and debris can build up in the ear canal.
Pressure against the eardrum can stimulate the tiny nerves in the inner ear, which send signals through the auditory nerve to the brain. Continuous pressure translates as continuous rushing, ringing, or chiming sounds.
Common causes of cerumen buildup include:
- A narrow ear canal prevents drainage.
- The wrong ear canal angle prevents drainage.
- Cotton swabs press wax deeper into the ear rather than removing it.
- Devices that prevent drainage, including earbuds, hearing aids, swimmer earplugs, etc.
- Excessive ear hair can prevent drainage.
You can remove excess earwax using the following methods.
- Prescription earwax softener – use as directed
- Home treatment – Lay on your side and drip warm saline, olive oil, mineral oil, baby oil, or glycerine into the ear canal. Make sure it’s comfortable to touch; you don’t want to burn your ear. You can also use over-the-counter hydrogen peroxide, which will bubble and pop as it loosens the ear wax. Lay on your side for 10 minutes, then roll over onto a towel to allow the solution and earwax to drain.
- Medical intervention – Your provider can irrigate the ear canal and remove the wax for you.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)
Damage to the tiny nerves in the inner ear is a common cause of tinnitus and hearing loss. The most common reasons for this type of nerve damage include:
- Tinnitus, loss of hearing due to age: The nerves degrade over time due to various factors, including nutrition, noise exposure, environmental factors, and general health. The sooner you support your nerve regeneration, the better. You can support nerve health through proper nutrition, ear protection in loud environments, and exercise.
- Accumulated noise damage: This develops when tiny nerves are stimulated at a high level for extended periods. This is common for musicians, factory workers, people who operate heavy machinery, etc.
- Sudden explosive sound: Tinnitus from loud noise can develop with sustained noise or sudden, high-decibel bursts. People who fire guns without ear protection, or those in the vicinity of an explosion or other sudden loud sounds, can sustain nerve damage in their ears. This damage may cause tinnitus and/or loss of hearing.
Tinnitus and loss of hearing from loud noise are easier to prevent than cure, so it is always important to use hearing protection when near noisy environments. If damage from loud sounds occurs, you may benefit from the following steps:
- Seek a quiet place to give your nerves a chance to calm down.
- Provide the proper nutrients, including vitamin B12, zinc, & Ginkgo biloba extract.
- Use gentle exercise to increase blood flow to the nerves.
- Manage stress levels.
- If tinnitus persists, see your provider.
Stress
When left unchecked, stress is detrimental to many bodily systems. Tinnitus has been linked to uncontrolled stress. As muscles in the face, jaw, and neck tighten, pressure in and around the ear can increase, interfering with function.
Stress, lack of sleep, and tinnitus can all form a negative cycle. Stress can contribute to tinnitus, and tinnitus can ramp up the stress even more. This can bleed into disrupted sleep (both from stress and hyper-sensitivity to the noise of tinnitus when trying to fall or stay asleep).
Tinnitus due to stress may benefit from various stress management techniques.
- Supplements: Many people benefit from supplements such as vitamin B12 for tinnitus caused by stress (and stress caused by tinnitus). The body can quickly burn up essential vitamins when it is under stress, but supplements can restore your body to a healthy balance that supports the reduction of tinnitus symptoms.
- Therapy: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may help people alter negative thought patterns and control anxiety, which can help with tinnitus.
- Muscle Relaxation: Try progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, yoga, or mindfulness meditation to bring your stress under control.
- Exercise: Physical activity can lower stress levels by reducing stress hormones and releasing endorphins. It also helps you sleep better, which will aid in stress management.
- Sound Therapy: Some people use white noise or music to relax and mask tinnitus sounds, while others find it only increases symptoms. Find what works best for you.
Pulsatile Tinnitus
Pulsatile tinnitus is the only tinnitus your doctor can hear with a stethoscope. Due to elevated blood pressure, you hear your pulse from arteries near your ear. If this happens just after a run or other strenuous exercise but dissipates as your heart rate returns to normal, then it’s not a problem. However, if the sound isn’t caused by recent exercise or doesn’t go away, it is time to see your physician.
Your tinnitus may be a symptom of a much more serious condition, including:
- High blood pressure: High blood pressure can make your pulse auditory and is a sign of much more serious health issues. Elevated blood pressure could be a precursor to a heart attack.
- Arteriovenous malformations: This congenital disease forms blood vessels incorrectly, bypassing normal tissue. Most people never have symptoms, but it can cause abnormal blood flow along the spine and head.
- Aneurysms: When blood vessels weaken and swell, it can affect blood flow. This malformation is an aneurysm caused by high blood pressure or atherosclerosis. Aneurysms can be life-threatening.
- Atherosclerosis: Plaque can build inside blood vessels, restricting blood flow.
- Eustachian Tubes: As discussed under sinusitis, when the mucosal lining in the tube swells, you may experience tinnitus symptoms.
- Soft Palate: You may be able to hear involuntary muscle contractions in the soft palate.
- Trauma: Injuries to the head, especially near the ear, can cause swelling and pulsatile tinnitus.
- Tumor: Any abnormal growths can change blood flow and increase pressure against the inner ear.