by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady asked:
I am forwarding this to ask your opinion. I don’t suffer with tinnitus but friends do and I would like to be able to recommend this product if it is something you might recommend.
The ad reads:
What is Tinnitus? Research shows almost 40 million adults suffer from tinnitus commonly referred to as “ringing in the ears”.
This problem may be caused by excess ear wax, nerve damage or dysfunction, or irritation from an unknown source. The constant ringing or noises in the ears can greatly interfere with the quality of life.
If this sounds familiar, you’ll be happy to hear Bronson’s Ring Eze formula may offer you the relief you’ve been searching for! This topical formula is an all-natural, high quality liquid containing a proprietary blend of Bio-Chelated concentrated herbal extracts in a synergistic combination shown to help relieve the ringing, buzzing and
noise in the ears. Though there is no cure for Tinnitus, this unique blend of natural ingredients helps by nourishing nerve endings in the ear and gently improving circulation.
So much for the hype. What is the truth? Will this formulation help people with tinnitus?
Let’s look carefully at the claims this ad makes and see what it is really saying—not what you thought it said based on a quick reading.
Here’s the first statement.
This problem may be caused by excess ear wax, nerve damage or dysfunction, or irritation from an unknown source. The constant ringing or noises in the ears can greatly interfere with the quality of life.
This is a true statement. There are many different causes of tinnitus. What they don’t say is that consequently you need specific treatments based on these causes. It is not a case of one treatment fits all. It continues:
If this sounds familiar, you’ll be happy to hear Bronson’s Ring Eze formula may offer you the relief you’ve been searching for!
Notice the “may offer you the relief”. It doesn’t say it will—but they are counting on you to believe it will—so that you will order it. Now comes the part—long on hype and lacking in any concrete evidence:
This topical formula is an all-natural, high quality liquid containing a proprietary blend of Bio-Chelated® concentrated herbal extracts in a synergistic combination shown to help relieve the ringing, buzzing and noise in the ears.
It sure sounds good, doesn’t it. It’s got all the right buzz-words. However, where are the studies showing that this particular formulation really works? They’ve got you believing you can say bye-bye to your tinnitus, but in the very next sentence they essentially contradict themselves. Notice:
Though there is no cure for Tinnitus…
If there is “no cure”, why should a person think their formula will work for them?
It then continues,
…this unique blend of natural ingredients helps by nourishing nerve endings in the ear and gently improving circulation.
Now they finally get to what their formulation can do—improve circulation. Thus, if your tinnitus is caused by a lack of blood flow to your inner ears—then this formulation may help you. I agree.
What they don’t say is that most people with tinnitus do not have this problem, so it helps a relatively small proportion of people with tinnitus.
As I’ve said in previous articles, if you have wax in your ears, or partially obstructed arteries in your head and neck, or have tinnitus from taking ototoxic drugs, or tinnitus from noise damage, this formulation is not going to help you much, if at all, because your tinnitus is not caused by a lack of circulation in your inner ears.
I once tested a whole case of a similar product—took it faithfully for 9 months—and at the end I couldn’t discern any difference in my tinnitus because, like most people, my tinnitus is not caused by poor circulation.
Do I recommend this product? Actually, I neither recommend nor not recommend it. It certainly won’t hurt your ears. It can help your tinnitus if your tinnitus is caused by lack of blood flow to your ears, but otherwise don’t expect any/much help from it. That’s my assessment based on my knowledge and experience.
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