The 3 Best Tinnitus Remedies — and 6 to Avoid

What Is Tinnitus?

"Although we don't fully understand tinnitus, we think it's a brain issue rather than simply an ear problem," says Elina Kari, MD, a neurotologist and an assistant professor of surgery at UC San Diego Health. (A neurotologist specializes in treating neurological disorders of the ear.) "The hearing pathway starts with the ear and goes up to your brain stem. And the dorsal cochlear nucleus, located on the brain stem, has been implicated in tinnitus."

Not everyone has the same kind of tinnitus. "People with subjective tinnitus hear a constant high-pitched noise, like a whir or crickets," Dr. Kari says. Subjective tinnitus has no known cause. More than 99 percent of people with tinnitus have this type.

"Those with pulsatile tinnitus hear a clicking sound associated with the contraction of muscles or a pulsing like your heartbeat," Kari says. Pulsatile tinnitus has specific known causes, such as anemia, high blood pressure, or an ear infection.

Most people experience tinnitus in both ears, but only one ear is affected in others.

The noise can be constant or intermittent. And although tinnitus might feel unbearable, here's the thing: "While it is extremely common, only a minority of people [find it debilitating]," Kari says.

Kari likens the experience of tinnitus to the sensation of clothing against your skin. "You are constantly feeling your clothes, but it doesn't drive you crazy," Kari says. "Often, the best solution for tinnitus is to ignore it and learn to live with it."

For those who find that easier said than done, we have three at-home tinnitus remedies that can bring relief — and six that probably won’t.

Tinnitus Relief: What Works

There’s no cure, per se, for tinnitus, but the following strategies can help.

1. Add Background Noise

"You can even get earplugs that emit a low level of white noise," Kari says

2. Try Meditation or Therapy

"If you are bothered by tinnitus, it can lead to anxiety and depression," Kari says. "Then it becomes a positive feedback loop: The more tinnitus you have, the more your mood is disordered; the more your mood is disordered, the worse your tinnitus becomes. You have to break that cycle."

Kari is also a fan of 10-minute daily guided meditations, using an app like Calm or Headspace.

"Some people think they need to empty their minds to meditate, which can be stressful if you have tinnitus," Kari says. "But guided meditation helps manage tinnitus — as well as improving your mood and sleep, and promoting a general state of well-being."

3. Get Enough Sleep

It's no surprise that tinnitus can affect your ability to rest. After all, it's hard to snooze if you can't shut off the whirring in your ears. But it's worth the effort to get some solid shut-eye.

"Sleep loss leads to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can exacerbate tinnitus," Kari says.

Meditating at bedtime and placing a white noise machine on your bedside table can help you reach dreamland sooner and sleep more soundly.

What Doesn’t Help Tinnitus

Research has been mixed on other purported tinnitus solutions. The following have no solid evidence to back them up.

1. Avoiding Certain Foods

"If you have an anxiety component to your tinnitus, you may want to eliminate caffeine, which is a stimulant and might exacerbate anxiety," Kari says. "Other people say alcohol makes their tinnitus worse."

2. Ear Drops

When you put drops into your ear canal, the liquid slides in as far as the eardrum, located in front of the middle ear.

"But if you have tinnitus, the problem is usually much deeper than the middle ear and often the brain is involved as well," Kari says. "So ear drops won't do anything."

3. Jaw or Neck Exercises

People with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction have pain in the joint that attaches the jawbone to the skull. While it's typically considered an oral issue, severe TMJ can affect your ears, too. "We don't have a good explanation for why this happens, but some people with TMJ experience pressure, discomfort, and ringing in their ears," Kari says. “Still, even if your tinnitus is caused by TMJ, jaw or neck exercises aren't likely to help.

4. Lipo Flavonoid

"When people ask about Lipo Flavonoid, I usually shrug," she says. "Are you getting anything better out of this supplement than out of drinking a naturally derived smoothie or eating a bunch of leafy greens?" (In other words, you're better off reaching for an apple or choosing a salad for lunch than purchasing an iffy and expensive supplement.)

5. Vitamins

There may be no correlation, however. "I have never seen vitamin deficiency as a contributing factor for tinnitus," Kari says. "You can check with your primary care doctor to see if you have any deficiencies, but I would not self-treat with vitamins, because they can lead to toxicity and have negative side effects."

6. Vicks VapoRub

According to Kari, there is a myth that Vick’s VapoRub alleviates tinnitus, but she says that there is no evidence that it works, and, in fact, it can be dangerous.

"I have not heard this to be effective, and I would be careful because applying it in your ears can lead to toxic effects," Kari says.

When to See a Doctor for Tinnitus

Pulsatile tinnitus might also reflect hearing loss. "The brain is used to getting a certain amount of noise input," Kari says. "When that input decreases due to hearing loss, the brain makes up its own sensations." In that case, hearing aids (or cochlear implants if you are severely hearing impaired) will often help.

"This multimodality treatment teaches your brain not to care about the ringing by habituating it to the sound," Kari says. "Although it works, it is pretty intensive. It's also not covered by insurance and very few hearing centers offer it."

Either way, if you're concerned, it's worth calling up your doctor if only for peace of mind. "The most effective treatment for tinnitus is reassurance," Kari says. Finally, if you've gotten your tinnitus under control and then it comes back, this is normal. "Rehab from tinnitus isn't linear — you'll have good and bad days," Kari says. "If you go through a period where you are stressed and not sleeping well, you might notice it flares. Once you are feeling better, the tinnitus should improve."

The Takeaway

• Tinnitus is a neurological problem that causes you to hear whirring, ringing, or other sounds that are not coming from external sources. In some cases, it is associated with hearing loss.
• Strategies to reduce tinnitus symptoms include a noise machine, music, meditation, and making sure to get a good night’s sleep.
• Though many things have been touted as helpful for tinnitus, such as supplements and certain foods, the evidence on these is mixed or nonexistent.
• If you are finding tinnitus bothersome or having additional symptoms (such as hearing loss), talk to your doctor.