Tinnitus

Neuromonics (an FDA approved pattern of acoustic stimuli designed to retrain the neural pathways) was developed in Australia over the last 10 years through four clinical trials involving more than 200 individuals with Tinnitus. Between 80 and 90 percent of people achieved a substantial reduction in their Tinnitus symptoms.

Tinnitus occurs when you hear a noise that’s not coming from your surroundings. It’s often described as a ringing in the ears, but it can also have other qualities, such as buzzing, humming, or whooshing.

According to 'The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders' (NIDCD), many people experience Tinnitus, whereas, several things can cause it. One possible cause is acoustic trauma, which, is an inner ear injury usually brought on by a very loud noise. Other possible causes are inner ear conditions like 'Meniere disease' and certain medications. Tinnitus has also been linked with COVID-19.

The reason why COVID-19 may lead to Tinnitus is still unknown. In a 2021 systematic review of hearing-related symptoms post-coronavirus, nearly 15 percent of patients reported Tinnitus, although, this figure may be an overestimate, per the study authors, according to 'The International Journal of Audiology'.

In fact, just over 12,000 cases of Tinnitus following a COVID-19 vaccine were reported by 'Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System' (VAERS), through fall 2021, according to a recent review in the 'Annals of Medicine and Surgery'. (VAERS is run by the FDA and the CDC, and allows people in the United States to self-report adverse effects of vaccines.) The World Health Organization (WHO) flagged 367 individual case safety reports of Tinnitus following the vaccine.

Here’s what we know: The novel Coronavirus affects other organs and systems beyond the respiratory system, says Kevin Munro, Au.D., professor of audiology at the 'UK's Manchester Center for Audiology and Deafness' and senior author of the 2021 systematic review on the evidence around COVID-19 and hearing symptoms.

That potentially includes the ears: Researchers at 'MIT' and 'Massachusetts Eye and Ear', used tissue from the inner ears of mice and humans, and in vitro cellular models and discovered SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) infects cells in the inner-ear. The results of this modelling were reported in October 2021 in the journal 'Communications Medicine'.

As of May 2022, more than 11 billion shots of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Some people—albeit a tiny number in comparison to the total number vaccinated—experience Tinnitus after getting vaccinated.?

That includes Gregory Poland, MD, a vaccine expert, and the founder and director of the 'Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group'. Dr. Poland heard a loud noise in his ear after his second COVID-19 vaccine, and in the year since, has experienced Tinnitus, according to reporting from 'NBC News' and other news organizations.

Tinnitus is listed as a potential side effect of the Janssen vaccine, but not other common vaccines, such as the ones from ‘Moderna’ or ‘Pfizer’. That said, there are ample reports (such as through VAERS) of people experiencing Tinnitus after these vaccines.

The 'World Health Organization' (WHO) says there’s a “possible link” between vaccines and Tinnitus, noting the need for additional monitoring since only limited data is available.

The incidence of COVID-19 vaccine-associated Tinnitus is rare, per a March 2022 review in the 'Annals of Medicine and Surgery'. But, the researchers point out, that doesn’t mean it’s not important to understand why this side-effect occurs in some people—along with the best treatment options for vaccine-associated Tinnitus.

Even if there is a connection between COVID-19 and Tinnitus, that still doesn’t reveal the precise cause. Tinnitus could be an indirect consequence of the virus, Munro notes…

Of the many studies conducted on Tinnitus retraining therapy, most demonstrate that Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) is effective for about 80 percent of individuals. Once therapy is completed, the majority of individuals who underwent TRT are able to sustain their results over time.

Treatment with Turmeric for middle ear infections – which commonly cause Tinnitus symptoms – was found to be as effective as antibiotics. Complementary and alternative treatments like Gingko Biloba, Acupuncture, and Zinc supplements might help some people.

Clinically favorable progress was detected in 46.4% of patients given Zinc. Although this decrease was not statistically significant, the severity of subjective Tinnitus decreased in 82% of the patients receiving Zinc.

Online bloggers and several websites have even recently started to tout the use of Vicks VapoRub for conditions affecting the ear, such as Tinnitus, earaches, and earwax build-up. There's no research thus far indicating that Vicks is effective for any of these uses…

Food for thought!