by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady wrote:
I came across your extremely informative articles on the Internet, and I wanted to ask you a question. I was recently prescribed Aleve 220 mg and Soma 250 mg for a neck injury. I was instructed to take the two pills together in the evening for 7 days. I took the pills together (1 Aleve and 1 Soma) for 2 evenings, and then stopped because my ear was ringing very loudly, and I feel a significant loss in my hearing on my left side.
I always have tinnitus in my left ear due to damaging my ear in college from listening to a Walkman radio. However, since I took these medications the ringing is much louder, and I feel that I cannot hear as well.
It has been one week since I stopped the medicines, and the increased tinnitus and hearing loss has persisted. Is this permanent damage to my hearing? I am really worried, and regret having taken these medicines in the first place.
The good news is that Carisprodol (Soma) is not known to cause tinnitus or hearing loss. So Soma is off the hook.
The bad news is that Naproxen (Aleve) is known to cause both hearing loss and tinnitus (and a bunch of other ototoxic side effects as well). In fact the “official” figures (which I think are much too low) indicate that Naproxen causes hearing disorders in up to 3% of the people taking it, and tinnitus in up to 9% of the people taking it. It looks like you are one of the “fortunate few”.
It’s hard to know whether the damage will be temporary or permanent. In one study 40% recovered their hearing and 60% had permanent hearing loss after taking Naproxen. Tinnitus results are mixed too. In some people it is permanent, and in others it goes away after some hours or days.
As a very rough rule of thumb, the level of hearing you have a month after stopping the Naproxen will likely be your new “normal” hearing level.
If you remain emotionally neutral to your tinnitus, and ignore it by focusing on other things, hopefully it will fade into the background as you habituate to it.
I hear from numbers of people who say much as you have said, “I am really worried and regret having taken these medicines in the first place.”
The problem with any drug side effects is that you never know whether they will hit you or not, so you don’t know which drugs you need to avoid. For myself, I don’t take any drugs—not even an Aspirin. I use herbals and alternate medicine instead. That way, I never have to worry about ototoxic (or any other) side effects of drugs.
To learn which drugs are (or can be) ototoxic, see “Ototoxic Drugs Exposed“. This book contains information on the ototoxicity of 877 drugs, 35 herbs and 148 chemicals.
I take Glyburide and Glucophage for Diabetes II. I have noticed that my PT seems to be a bit less severe on occassion when my diabetic medical cycles vary.
Is there any evidence that prolonged use of Glyburide or Glucophage XL is Ototoxic?
Thank you in advance.
Sadly, I too had this experience with Naproxen after an anti-inflammatory drug was prescribed. My ears were roaring. After I stopped, some of this went away, but residual tinnitus remains. My doc. prescribed Aleve for my arthritis – but I discovered this ototoxic drug was present. It is interesting that tinnitus is not on the Aleve side effects label. We read the warnings, but then have to roll the dice and see if we are hosed from the “treatment!”
I have permanent hearing damage due to Aleve. I’d like to start a class action suit. Statute of limitations is 2 years. .Interested?
Thank you.
Sandy
yes…was prescribed Naproxen for my Arthritis and my ears ring constantly
Is there a lawsuit started?
Sense I started taking Naproxen about a year or so ; I have loss hearing in my left ear and slight hearing loss in my right ear. I am interested in a class action suit. Please keep me posted. Annita at:(Gracewithall@aol.com. Thanks
I was prescribed naproxen for back pain on the 21 st December 2010 , I took it for 3 months , 500mg in the morning and 500mg in the evening, as well.as omeprazole I tab per day to help the stomach juices , I suffered complete hearing in my right ear , and have suffered with severe tinnitus every since
Glad I stop taken them I can hear good but the noise of my ear and Tinnitus and pounding in my head it’s horrible so thanks cause it was thinking of getting back on no more I am so sick about this God help me
Been taking meds for so many years because I got fibromyalgia, arthritis, severe migraine, headaches fastest, tinnitus like I said, and my pounding in my head when I go to sleep it’s hell I stopped taking my sleeping pills cause I know it does cause that I drink Sleepytime I put three bags in and today I tried, and you immune support elderberry with zinc and melatonin I hope that’s one of the good ones I am getting sleepy now because I haven’t had really much a good sleep it’s 10 at night so I am going to try to see if I really can I get some sleep cause I wake up so many times at night Thank you for your support.
I took three Naproxen one day for back pain and my left ear had hearing loss and now permenant tinnitus to the point of suicide. It is like a loud whistle. No warning label on bottle. I have finally narrowed it down to this. I wish I could sue. I am now disabled because of this, can’t sleep w/out sleep meds.
Just reading your notes in 2016 ..& hope the tinnitus has healed …I never put the 2 together until reading this site … It’s unfortunate that it’s not listed as a side effect …
Hi Bailey:
What do you mean it’s not listed as a side effect? Both the PDR (Physicians’ Desk Reference) and the CPS (Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties) list the side effects of Naproxen which include both tinnitus and hearing loss.
Cordially,
Neil
Does this apply to UK Drs as i was given Naproxen and slightly over dosed ;and now, have permanent tinnitus. There was no mention at any time that this drug could cause tinnitus ?
Hi Glenn:
Naproxen is Naproxen the world over so it affects you in the UK just like it does in the USA–whether doctors know about its side effects or not, or whether they tell you or not.
Cordially,
Neil
I also have permanent hearing damage from Aleve. Would like to start a class action suit. The statue of limitations is 2 years in the USA. Interested?
Thank you.
It is not listed on the bottle or box and doctors rarely expound on every side effect.
Hi Sue:
Naproxen is quite ototoxic. Ototoxic side effects should be listed, but as you know, aren’t.
Hundreds and hundreds of people have reported hearing loss to the FDA’s reporting database. Further hundreds and hundreds have reported tinnitus. Not to mention thousands of reports of balance problems.
It’s a good drug to avoid.
Cordially,
Neil
On Aleve packaging , hearing loss is not listed as a side effect.
I also have permanent heating damage from Aleve. Woukd like to start a class action suit. Statue of limitations is 2 years. Know of anyone who’s interested? How do I get the word out? Thank you.
Sandy
Also have deafening tinnitus in an ear after naproxen and interested in class action suit.
What common people own a PDR or CPS. I look for side effects on the bottle.
Hi Annita:
Since there are between 150 and 300 side effects for the average drug, you won’t find many of them in either the PDR or CPS and you certainly won’t find more than a handful on the bottle.
The PDR typically only has one or two ototoxic side effects listed, so you don’t learn much their either. That is why I have spent the past 25 years searching out ototoxic drug side effects from many other sources. It requires a lot of digging to find them.
You don’t need to get a PDR as you can go to the websites Drugs.com or RXRist.com. The monographs at these sites are exactly the same as the ones printed in the PDR. So if you have an internet connection you have access to the same information and for free.
Cordially,
Neil
I now have permanent hearing loss from Aleve. Am interested in filing a class action suit.
Statute of limitations is 2 years. Know if anyone who’d be interested?
Thanks.
Sandy
I have loud ringing too.after taking naproxen…im mad because there is no warnings on the label…i wish we could start a class action suit against these people!
Me too after Having this naproxen I lost my right hearing and I have a loud ringing 24/7 I think we should start a class action suit against the producer of this drug.
I also have permanent hearing damage from Aleve. I’d like to start a class action suit. Statute of limitations is 2 years.
Interested?
Thank you.
I’d like to start a class action suit vs Aleve /naproxen for hearing damage. Statute of limitations is 2 years.
Interested?
Thank you.
I want to start a class action suit vs Aleve. On Aleve packaging , hearing loss is not listed as a side effect.
I also have permanent heating damage from Aleve. Woukd like to start a class action suit. Statue of limitations is 2 years. Know of anyone who’s interested? How do I get the word out? Thank you.
Sandy
I am sorry this happened. I know it is difficult to live with,but you must not lose heart. You are still alive and while you have your consciousness make the best of it. I will pray for you. I have a similar thing with tinnituus brought on by benzodiazepines that I just recently stopped taking. It may still improve. Honestly, it is possible that it improve any time. I will pray for you,and myself.
I have Tinnitus from a cocktail of anti-depressants. Now I am scared stiff to take any meds. bec. I am afraid that it will cause my Tinnitus to worsen. I feel for all the people who are suffering. deenag18
A year ago, my ENT said my head was under water due to sinus. 3 other ENTs said the same.
I have (a year later) still hearing loss in my left ear. I sleep on my left side now ,to be able
to hear during the night. The aleve pm was my sleeping pill of choice! Now it’s a ringing
in my ear that keeps me up…….
Why is there no class action law suit against Aleve for hearing damage. This stuff is poison and should be removed from the market. My ears have been ringing for years because I was told to take this crap.
I had mild tinitus for years, but it seems now worse due to the Naproxen…is there another medication i can take for my Osteoarthritis that could aleviate the tinitus??
Hi Dee:
You might try lowering the Naproxen dose and see if you can get below the “magic threshold” where Naproxen doesn’t cause tinnitus. Other than that, you should ask your doctor what other drugs might work for you. Then I can tell you which of those are the least ototoxic and are least likely to affect your tinnitus.
Cordially,
Neil
Jamie, I’m sorry to read that the tinnitus has caused you so much pain😔
I’ve been talking aleve daily. Now my ears are plugged up and i can’t hear as well. Unplugged for a bit today but now both are that way. Gonna stop aleve and pray is allergies and not this. Great…
I just took Naproxen 1 500 mg this morning, and one around 8:30 tonight for pain in my jaw. Prescribed by my dentist. Around 2 pm I noticed hearing in my right ear started to sound weird. Now I cant hear well and have ringing. OMG What a scam. I say run, don’t walk from your nearest doctor. All they give is poison
Hi Steve:
Naproxen can indeed do that. A safer solution would have been to take Aspirin if that would kill the pain. At least with Aspirin, typically any resulting tinnitus and hearing loss goes away when you stop taking it.
With Naproxen, sometimes any resulting hearing loss and/or tinnitus is temporary and sometimes it is permanent.
Cordially,
Neil
Dear doc Which of these drugs are less ototoxic ? Can you order in order from least to worst ototoxic?
Ibuprofen, ketoprofen, Etoricoxib, Niflumic acid, naproxen ?
Hi Massimo:
Doing this is not as straightforward as you might think.
Ibuprofen is the most ototoxic and I have numerous anecdotal reports to back up the “official” listings
Probably Naproxen is the 2nd most ototoxic with a number of anecdotal reports to back up the “official” listings. But with Naproxen, the side effects may be temporary or permanent–more or less about 50% for each, but tending to be more permanent than temporary.
Etoricoxib seems to be only slightly ototoxic, but that is based on scanty information. If it is anything like the other common drugs in its class, it is quite ototoxic–probably about the same as Naproxen.
I have almost no information on Nilflumic acid so can’t even rate it. But it is a COX-2 inhibitor just like Niflumic acid and therefore may be quite ototoxic–but don’t have any data to say one way or the other.
Ketoprofen is less ototoxic than Ibuprofen and Naproxen, but still the ototoxic side effects affect numbers of people.
So based on what I know from least to most ototoxic would be Niflumic acid, Etoricoxib, Ketoprofen, Naproxen and Ibuprofen. But if the first two are more ototoxic like other drugs in their class, then Ketoprofen would likely be the least ototoxic.
Cordially,
Neil
I’ve been prescribed to take 500mg naproxen once every month for dysmenorrhea that is so painful without, that I cannot do anything but lay down in the fetal position for the entire day. Can’t work, can’t eat, can’t sleep, and sometimes I pass out.
In the last year I’ve noticed I was getting a noise in my ear that would come and go for a few days and was confused because I’ve always been diligent about protecting my hearing. I have a family member with tinnitus, he suffers greatly, and I’ve done all I can in my life to avoid getting it too. No idea that the meds could be causing tinnitus, and worse that it could be PERMANENT. No warning from my GP that this was the trade off.
Unfortunately I seem to be stuck here because without that one naproxen pill (I only take the minimum I need to function) I’d be in debilitating pain once a month for at least another eight years. I’ve been prescribed other meds to try and get away from the high dose of naproxen, I’ve tried going with lower doses, but none work well enough to allow me to function. I didn’t think one pill a month would be too hard on my body. Everything is too good to be true.
Annie, I too have hearing damage from naproxen / Aleve.
I’d like to start a class action suit. Statue of limitations is 2 years.
Interested?
Thank you.
I understand the noise tinitus can give. Mine goes from mild whistling to police siren and off tuned radio. I have menieres and Raynaud’s too. Had the falling over part for over 30 years and nausea for over 20. But the tinitus got worse since the UK storms in 2015.
It put me in hospital September 2016 with raised blood pressure of 50 points up, and bruised ribs, hip and back.
I’m on naproxen 500 since omeprazole and crutches.
I cannot be pass the sobriety walk test.
The worst feeling was the flying bed rollercoaster attack it was like using vr Goggles.
Very unnerving waiting for bus or crossing road in heavy traffic, that. Give a sea sick feeling.
Hope this helps other sufferers
I have found that a multi b, zinc, magnesium, a sub-lingual b12 ALL these on for two days off for two, plus a good quality vit. A every week (1 pill), along with 7-8 hours sleep and forgetting about it pretty much makes the tinnitus go away. It comes back if I stop this routine. But it works for me.
Hi John:
You can’t argue with success. It seems your diet is deficient and you need to supplement it to keep your ears healthy. This won’t work for everyone with tinnitus of course, but for those low in the above nutrients, it is certainly worth a try.
Cordially,
Neil
I have Crohn’s disease. I have been taking Lialda( mesamelamine) for 7 years. About 5-6 years ago, I had – what doc said was unconfirmed SSH hearing loss in my right ear. I regained hearing in about 3 days. I have had it happen 3 x since then. About 2 years ago, during a sudden traumatic time, I had a sudden onset of extremely loud tinnitus. A loud pop, and then unbearably loud hi pitch ringing. The volume softened slightly so that other sounds weren’t painful in my ear, but it has never gone away since that moment. As many here people can understand, it’s beyond maddening sometimes.
I have been to 3 different ear doctors, and everyone says hearing is fine. Thank God. But I definitely can’t hear certain things in my right ear, that I can in my left.
Getting an MRI to test for endolymphatic hydrops.
I’m curious to know if Lialda is is ototixic. I have searched but have not found any info on this.
I continue to have moments where sound suddenly drops in my right ear., and returns moments later. Very frightening.
Another hi pitched tone suddenly appeared when I woke up s few days ago. now there are dual loud sounds in my rt ear. I do feel pressure, but there is no fluid, infection, etc.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. the ringing is so loud, it sometimes wakes from sleep, that is when I can fall asleep. I’m now taking Benadryl at night to fall asleep because the sound is unbearable.
Hi Sasha:
Lialda is actually the generic drug Mesalamine, not Mesamalamine. Mesalamine is indeed ototoxic and can cause various ototoxic side effects such as auditory hallucinations, hearing loss, hyperacusis, tinnitus, ataxia, dizziness, equilibrium disorders, vertigo, ear pain, ear infections and a number of other ototoxic side effects.
What sorts of things can you hear in the one year but not in the other? Notice specifically whether this happens in a quiet situation or only in a noisier situation. Also notice what the frequency is. Does your one year here higher frequency sounds then the other ear does or not?
Some drugs have the unsettling characteristic of causing your hearing just to drop out and then pop back in again, especially after you been on the drug for a number of years like you have. I’m not aware that Mesalamine has this characteristic, but maybe it does.
Is there any way you can get off this drug? Is there another drug that could do the same job that might not mess up your ears so badly? Talk to your doctor and see. I wouldn’t be at all surprised that the funny hearing problems you are experiencing are caused by the Mesalamine you’re taking.
Cordially,
Neil
Yes i agree..now i have tinitus and im mad about it …what can we do?
Has anyone talked to a lawyer?
We need to band together. I’d like to start a class action suit vs Aleve/ naproxen. Single lawyers are hesitant to take the case.
I have hearing damage from Aleve. Statue of limitations is 2 years.
Interested in a class action law suit ?
Thank you.
I’ve been taking 1000mg of naproxen in the morning and the same at night for almost a year. First for sciatic nerve and now also for sprained knee. do the hearing problems get progressively worse?
Hi Steve:
They can. Some people find the hearing loss and tinnitus is permanent. For others it can be temporary. With high doses like you are taking, the odds are NOT in your ears favor.
Cordially,
Neil
For the temporary, normally it take how long to cure doc?
Hi Rildz:
If your tinnitus is temporary from taking Naproxen, it may go away in a few days to two weeks after your stop taking the Naproxen, or it may take two or three months. There’s no way to know ahead of time because everyone is different.
Cordially,
Neil
I took 2 pills of Aleve for my back and it’s been 2 days of hell. I am a little freaked out over this. I lost hearing in my right ear and have a constant ringing. That is not cool. I have no money or insurance so I have to wait to go get it checked. If aleve caused this, it should not be sold at all. I am trying to stay positive in hopes things will go back to normal, but for last 2 days my life has been consumed by this so it is very difficult not to freak out. I just want it to go away!
The saddest thing about it all is that this started on my birthday. What a gift from the universe?
Hi Zachary:
The problem with popping pills for every little ache and pain is that you risk having a more serious ototoxic reaction such as tinnitus and hearing loss like you got. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell in advance what ototoxic side effects you may experience, nor whether they will be temporary or permanent. You can hope it will be temporary, but there are no guarantees.
You would have been far better off to just rest and put an ice pack on your back to help control the pain.
And don’t blame the universe for your “gift”. You gave it to yourself–in ignorance to be sure, but it was your choice to take drugs instead of cold packs for example.
Cordially,
Neil
Sorry for your ears. I also have permanent hearing damage from Aleve/naproxen.
I’d like to start a class action suit since lawyers are hesitant to take a single case.
Statute of limitations is 2 years.
Interested?
Thank you.
How can we start a class action suit against Aleve/naproxen?
Lawyers are hesitant to take an individual case against Aleve re hearing damage. Statute of limitations is 2 years.
Thank you.
I took naproxen in Jan 1995, very small dosage of only two pills (one 10mg in evening, and one 10mg in the morning) that resulted in debilitating tinnitus, could not work. Never had any ringing before then! Eventually it went from a low pitched roar (boat fog horn) to a high pitched squeel. Its been 24 years since then and I still have the tinnitus and resulting hearing loss it caused. Life has been challenging… I would join the lawsuit if one was started.
Hi Kerry:
Are you sure you have the drug right, or the dosage right? The smallest dose of Naproxen is 250 mg, not 10 mg according to my information.
Cordially,
Neil
As a long-term tinnitus sufferer I have to point out that herbal remedies and even vitamins are drugs. Too much vitamin A or D can be very hazardous.
My tinnitus was made much worse by ginko biloba but i didn’t think for one minute about suing the manufacturer. Naproxen clearly lists tinnitus as a possible side effect. It is incumbent upon us as users to do our research before taking any drug, herbal or otherwise.
Hi Anton:
Yes, herbals of active ingredients that can cause side effects. Taking vitamins in high doses out of balance can be hazardous. For example if you take high doses of vitamin D, you also have to take vitamin K2 and of course you also need to take magnesium and calcium. All four of these things have to be taken in the proper balance. Then vitamin D3 is not hazardous.
Taking calcium by itself is also dangerous to your health, but when taken with the above three items and in the proper ratio to each other, it’s good for your health.
A few people find that taking Ginkgo biloba does make their tinnitus worse but, on the other hand many people taking Ginkgo biloba find that it makes their tinnitus better.
I certainly agree with you, you need to do your due diligence before you take any drug or herbal or vitamin or supplement.
Cordially,
Neil
Same my tinitis is real bad have psoriatic arthritis take naproxen ringing driving me crazy go see doctor had tinitis while but way worse right now
Hi James:
Naproxen can certainly cause bad tinnitus in some people. It seems this might be true in your case. I’d suggest you ask your Dr. to change your medication to another drug that doesn’t cause your tinnitus to flare up like it is, and stop taking the Naproxen.
Cordially,
Neil
Knee surgeries began my problem about twenty-five years ago. Both knees, a lot of inflammation afterword. The surgeons NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT P.T…. they only said, both of them, that after about 15 years I will need replacements. After suffering inflammation for quite a while, my GP told me to try Naproxen Sodium as it was a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that would not upset my stomach or mess with my kidneys. AND… he said I could take it for as long as I needed as it had no notable side-effects that would affect me. So, for years, I took Naproxen Sodium whenever my knees played up. Now I find tinnitus listed as one of those rare side effects of long term use of Naproxen Sodium. Thank you, folks… do you have a cure as well?? Tinnitus ‘snuck up on me’ and now I have it badly. Bilateral. Loud. Continuous. Hearing tests show my hearing is better than most other 65yo men with the exception of the aprox. 8640 hertz range the tinnitus seems to reside within. I stopped taking NS quite some time back, but the tinnitus never lessened on me. It can wake me at night. It makes it difficult to go to sleep. It makes it difficult to hear some voices against certain background noises. I hate it. I want it gone. Is there no cure at all???
Post Script…. No, I have not had the knees replaced. The NS did a good job of masking my rapidly advancing osteoarthritis. Annoyed at the drug company for their tiny print that no one read until it was too late. Annoyed at my surgeons never saying anything about physical therapy being needed post surgery. (sigh) Life changing. Life debilitating. And no one can or has been able to suggest anything that works.
Hi Mitch:
Both hearing loss and tinnitus are NOT rare occurrences from taking Naproxen. Nor do you have to take it long-term for this to occur. It can happen within 3 days. So you have been fortunate that it’s taken a long time for tinnitus to show up.
The good news is that tinnitus can be temporary and go away when you stop taking it as numbers of people can attest. The bad news is that for some people, the tinnitus is permanent as numbers of other people can attest.
Why do you think that your tinnitus is due to taking this drug and not from another drug or another cause?
As you now know, tinnitus is often near the pitch of your greatest hearing loss–and no doubt, from what you say, you have a high-frequency hearing loss that closely matches your tinnitus in pitch. Your tinnitus could be a result of this hearing loss, rather than the drug. (Mind you, the drug could have caused your hearing loss and thus indirectly your tinnitus.)
There is no guaranteed way to get rid of tinnitus, but there are many therapies and treatments that work for some people. None of them work for all people. Just because your doctors don’t know about them or mention them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. My tinnitus book explains many of these therapies and how you can take control of your tinnitus. If you are interested, you can get it at https://hearinglosshelp.com/shop/take-control-of-your-tinnitus-heres-how/ .
So much of successfully dealing with your tinnitus is up to you. Chapter 16 in the above book shows you the basic secret of how to gain control over your tinnitus.
Cordially,
Neil
Greetings and thank you for the reply. Quick replies of any sort on these kind of pages can be surprising. Thank you for surprising me. 🙂
I don’t like drugs at all. My older brother was a rather excellent teacher of what not to do. The only drugs I’ve ever taken was the single Demerol or whatever it was the hospital forced me to take before they let me out after the surgeries. When I went in post op, the surgeon was panicked when I he asked if I had any pills left and I said ‘no’. To allay his panic, I handed him back the unfilled prescription for pain pills he had given me. I believe my body’s own endorphins created a more stable pain suppression than the roller coaster ride pain pills would have offered. Just me… but it seemed to work perfectly for me. Same with a broken hand, a dislocated shoulder, and later with bony encapsulated wisdom teeth (yes plural) removal. So, the only long term medicine I’ve taken (periodically long term… ONLY when the inflammation in my knees got bad) was the naproxen and a long time ago Imatrex for some pre-40s migraines (now 65 and migraine free for more than 20 years). I have always worn hearing protection except for a two day stint on a construction site when I was a teenager – long, LONG before the knees and tinnitus. As for the frequency, I had several hearing specialists try to sell me hearing aids and one that laughed and said I didn’t need them at all. I sat down with a tone generator and worked my way up through the frequencies and found no attenuation in my hearing ability at that frequency, but that it matched the pitch near perfectly. I can ‘stress’ my jaw and get what seems to be a very slight increase in the volume level of the sound, but no other change. I did get punched in the jaw as a twenty-something uselessly defending a woman that walked away with the other guy after I put him on his arse. Never had any issues with jaw movement. Had an endodontist recommend me to a specialist back years ago when I was trying to figure all this out and he said he could see no connection or indications of TMJ. I’ve tried some of the ‘hearing training’ audios, but they have been useless so far. Sometimes a little background music can distract me a little… but for a sound that can be easily heard above the sound generated by driving 100kph with the windows down, I feel I have little hope of attenuating this in any way. That said, I will have my wife check out your link/book and see if we can glean anything new from it or perhaps a more solid direction in something I’ve already tried. Again, thank you very much for your time and consideration. Your reply has been greatly appreciated, especially that it is on a topic ‘near and not so dear to me’.
-Mitch
Hi Mitch:
Your comment came in as I was just working at my computer early this morning, so I answered it right then. Sometimes it takes me weeks to get to them, and some I never get around to answering as I get too many to humanly answer.
I’m certainly with you on not taking drugs unnecessarily. After my back surgery I never even took so much as an aspirin–never filled the prescription for opioids. Just iced it as needed and took it easy.
If you have total tinnitus and can match the pitch of your tinnitus exactly, and listen to the tone for a few minutes and then turn the tone generator off, you may find that residual inhibition kicks in–and your tinnitus disappears for a few seconds, minutes, hours or days (or even longer in rare cases). You should try it and see if it works for you.
Most people with tinnitus can clench their teeth, turn their head hard right or left and make their tinnitus momentarily louder and/or higher in pitch. This is especially true if you neck is out of proper alignment.
You aren’t supposed to drown out tinnitus, but set the volume of the noise to a level just below your tinnitus–at the “mixing point” where the background sound and your tinnitus mix together. Then you ignore your background sound, and at the same time, you also ignore your tinnitus. As you do that, over time you keep reducing the background sound just a bit, and your brain turns your tinnitus down at the same time. That’s the basis of tinnitus retraining therapy.
I’m sure you will learn a lot from reading my tinnitus book. No one has gotten back to me and said, “I knew all that”–just the opposite. They said, “I never knew that.”
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you! First time I’ve had positive vibes about my tinnitus in many, MANY years. Last time was at a Scottish Rite (Masonic guys) lecture that I somehow caught in Boise, Idaho. They had some substantial (or had) funding going toward hearing research… specifically tinnitus. They felt that within 15(?) years they would have all kinds of answers. Their 15 years was up quite a while ago and I’ve heard nothing more about it from them. I will experiment a little with matching and then attenuating the frequency with renewed vigor. My wife said she will look at/order your book this weekend when she is back from work. Currently she is working with the Covid folks at South Australia Health and comes home pretty worn out and ready for a glass of wine and a foot rub. Until then, ‘Cheers’ from an American Down Under.
With kind regards,
-Mitch
Hi Mitch:
They are always coming up with all kinds of solutions–but the solutions either don’t pan out, or they only help a small subset of all the people with tinnitus. And this is perfectly understandable when you realize that there are all kinds of tinnitus and each needs a different treatment. The trouble is they are looking for something that will work for all people with tinnitus and that is just not going to happen.
The trick is to find the solution that will work for your specific version of tinnitus.
I’m just curious whether residual inhibition will work for you. It may, or may not.
Make sure you order the eBook, not the printed version as postage to Australia is ridiculously expensive–more than the cost of the book. The contents of both versions are identical.
Cordially,
Neil
This is horrendous. I experienced a strange, sudden loss in hearing this evening after taking one Aleve. I got suspicious and looked it up, and sure enough, here is all this information. I certainly hope it’s not permanent. I have taken it before and my hearing was unaffected, so I’m crossing my fingers.
In any case, I’m going to make bumper stickers and t-shirts that say “ALEVE (NAPROXEN SODIUM) CAUSES PERMANENT HEARING LOSS & TINNITUS”, so victims of this poison can fight back by spreading the truth.
My own mother takes Aleve very often for arthritis pain, and guess what? She has suffered significant hearing loss requiring hearing aids. Her job, her livelihood, is BASED on hearing/listening! I’m going to warn her to stop taking that crap before she goes totally deaf!
Aleve. Tylenol. Baby asprin . metropol for high blood pressure . rosuvastain for cholestrol all cause tinnitus I take baby asprin metropolo. An rosuvastain body and ears r so loud . need for heart surgery ugly meds