by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady asked,
Is an extract of pine bark (pycnogenol) still of interest in treating tinnitus?
You are referring to an article that came out 3 years ago on October 13, 2010 entitled, “Pycnogenol effective in relieving tinnitus symptoms: Study“.
In case you aren’t familiar with it, pycnogenol (pik-NAH-jen-all) is a proprietary extract derived from the bark of the Maritime Pine (Pinus pinastris) and is used as an alternative treatment for various health conditions.
It’s rather interesting that after a flurry of activity repeating/commenting on this article, there has been little written since then about pycnogenol and tinnitus.
Why aren’t the millions of tinnitus sufferers flocking to take pycnogenol? Why is there no mention of this treatment on the American Tinnitus Association website or other prominent tinnitus information sites?
As they say, “the devil is in the details”—in other words, when looking deeper into the subject, you see that the fine details do not fully support the initial proclamation. This is the case with the above-mentioned study.
Notice the specific conditions of this study.
“In a study conducted by the Chieti-Pescara University in Italy, 82 patients between the ages of 35 and 55 with mild-to-moderate tinnitus in only one ear, while the other remains unaffected, were studied throughout a four-week period. Tinnitus in all subjects was a result of restricted blood supply to the inner ear, as measured by high resolution ultrasonography imaging of their cochlear blood flow.”
First, notice the small size of this study. It only involved 82 people. If other studies had been done with other people would they have found the same results?
Second, notice that this was only for people with “mild to moderate tinnitus”, not for the millions of people with tinnitus that is driving them “buggy” (severe tinnitus).
Third, notice that they could only have tinnitus in one ear. Again, this leaves out enormous numbers of people with tinnitus in both ears.
Fourth, the study only lasted 4 weeks. Would the positive effects they found last for years? That question is not answered.
Finally, and very importantly, notice that all the test subjects had tinnitus from one specific cause—”a result of restricted blood supply to the inner ear”.
Let’s zero in on that last condition. In how many people is tinnitus caused by a lack of adequate blood-flow to the inner ear?
We know that for most people with hearing loss, tinnitus accompanies their hearing loss. We also know that exposing your ears to noise is the most common cause of preventable tinnitus. Furthermore, we know that tinnitus is associated with taking any of more than 550 different drugs and medications.
Thus, it appears that few people with tinnitus have, as the primary cause of their tinnitus, a lack of adequate blood flow to their inner ears.
Therefore, the reason that pycnogenol isn’t used to treat everyone with tinnitus is that it (only) works for those people who have inadequate blood flow to their inner ears—obviously not the majority of people with tinnitus by any means.
However, for people that suffer from tinnitus caused solely by reduced blood flow to their inner ears, taking pycnogenol may indeed help them. However, pycnogenol isn’t the only thing that can help this condition. Anything that increases blood flow in the peripheral arteries should do the same job. For example, Niacin (Vitamin B3) would do the same job, and indeed, is used in treating this very condition. So is taking Ginkgo biloba (standardized to contain 24% flavone glycosides, 6% terpene lactones and 2.6% bilobalide) in therapeutic doses (480 mg per day).
Unfortunately, for all those of us with tinnitus who do not have reduced blood flow as the primary cause of our tinnitus—taking pycnogenol or the above remedies typically doesn’t help us.
You see, in order to get good results, you need to use the correct tinnitus treatment based on the cause of your tinnitus. However, too many people lump all tinnitus together as though it were just “tinnitus” and thus one treatment should work. This is just not true, and is why results vary all over the place.
There are a number of different causes/”kinds” of tinnitus. There are also many different tinnitus treatments. The good news is that each of these treatments work for some people, but none work for all people. That is why pycnogenol works for some people and not others. For this very reason, if you have tinnitus, you should try a number of different treatments until you find one (or more) treatments that helps alleviate your tinnitus.
If you want to learn more about many things that can trigger tinnitus, or more about a number of things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under control, check out our book, When Your Ears Ring—Cope with Your Tinnitus—Here’s How.
I have tinnitus the ear doctor said I have dead nerve endings . Nothing I could do except play a background music or run a fan at night to help with the ringing. It sucks 30 years of this crap
Hi Vince:
If you have dead nerve endings, that means you have a significant hearing loss. Tinnitus almost always accompanies significant hearing loss. Probably the best treatment–besides masking the sound with pink noise or music is to quit focusing on your tinnitus and get on with your life. If you focus on the loves of your life, you’ll find your tinnitus tends to fade into the background. But as soon as you think about your tinnitus, there it is–front and center again.
I know what it is like. I’ve had tinnitus for more than 65 years now–but I choose not to let it bother me and much of the time it is in the background and I can go for hours without even being aware I have tinnitus. However, whenever I think about tinnitus, there it is. For example, just writing this reply to you has made my ears ring because I am now thinking about tinnitus. But the good news is that within 5 minutes of ending this note, my tinnitus will fade into the background and I’ll not be aware of it for some time–unless the next reply I write is also about tinnitus.
You can learn to do the same as me–and with the same results.
Cordially,
Neil
The question is whether they took 150 mg once per day, or 75 mg twice per day. Doesn’t specify this which could be important.
The Pycnogenol group also received 150 mg per day of Pycnogenol (50mg three times daily). Hope that helps!
Hello.
Forgive me for my placement of this question under Serina’z comment, but I was unable to find a way to post a new thread.
My tinnitus appeared after getting the 2nd of two Pfizer Covid vaccines. The vaccine was at 6pm; I awoke with mild tinnitus the following morning. I am not drawing any firm conclusions from this, because I recognize that scientifically, it could well have been a pure coincidence and I might have acquired tinnitus at that very time, anyway.
The tinnitus has been with me for now almost 8 months, constantly. I was evaluated at a hearing & tinnitus center and they said they would send in a report to VAERS for me.
My question is, doctor, have you ever heard of vaccine-induced tinnitus? If so, does your book address it and offer possible remedies, apart from just not focusing upon the tinnitus, which is what I use as treatment?
As a classical performing musician, I’ve always taken meticulous care of my hearing and protected my ears from loud sounds. We create our art against a palette of silence. I fear getting the booster and added Covid vaccines in case the tinnitus could worsen and potentially destroy my career. I aspire to continue performing through till my 80s if I live that long!
Thank you very much.
Sincerely, Cherwyn
Hi Cherwyn:
Yes, actually tinnitus is quite a common side effect of getting the Pfizer shot.
Here are some interesting facts about getting tinnitus from the Pfizer shot.
As of October 19, 2021 more than 4,000 people had reported getting tinnitus from this shot in the USA. Most people reported getting tinnitus the first week after the shot (53% and 28% reported getting tinnitus the same day. So your tinnitus doesn’t appear to be coincidental.
About 60% of those reporting tinnitus are female. Furthermore, about 30% are over 60, and another 47% are between 40 and 60.
This information isn’t in the 3rd edition of my Ototoxic Drugs Exposed book, but it and updated information will be in the 4th edition when it comes out in a couple of years.
As far as treating tinnitus from the shot, treatment is basically the same as for tinnitus from taking other drugs or from exposing your ears to loud sounds or from hearing loss.
The two main things are to treat your tinnitus as a totally unimportant, useless background sound that is in no way a threat to your well-being–so you don’t focus on it. And if it is bothering you, have background sounds around you to lessen the contrast between your tinnitus and silence. If you have normal hearing, even just having a fan running in your bedroom may be all it takes.
Cordially,
Neil
Tinnitus from the Pfizer shot appears to be permanent about 90% of the time.
Of all the people reporting tinnitus after the Pfizer shot, about 60% got their tinnitus after the first shot, and the rest after their second shot.
Cherwyn, I feel your pain. I had had unilateral hearing loss, accompanied with tinnitus 10 days after pfizer shot #1. Up to then, I had my hearing tested annually for work for over 20 years. I play guitar and am a music lover, it is painful to lose high range hearing and left with distortion and popping noises. I have connected with 2 others that have the same reaction. I think it is very dismissive to rule out the vaccine.
I have tinnitus now in both ears the ringing /hissing in the left ear was made worse from a virus Igot years ago which killed the hairs in my ears The noise in my right ear is very minor Ive tryed laser treatment natutal paths acupuctorists vitiam b whichgave me heart palutations so I quite them Certain noises like the microwave &crupplng paper bags &the worst my fridge noise really agervate my left ear I even tried collidal silver drops in both ears which i think made it worse twice so I quite Now i am going to try Pycnogenol I was told my best hope is hearing aids & retraing my brain if they could regrow hairs in the ear that would be fantastic soory for my spelling stay healthy
Hi Kerr:
When you say your tinnitus is made worse by certain sounds like the microwave, crumpling paper and your fridge, do you mean your tinnitus gets louder whenever you hear these sounds and it drops back to baseline when they stop?
If so you have a combination of both tinnitus and loudness hyperacusis. Together, they are called reactive tinnitus. Has this been going on since the viral infection a year ago, or since then?
I don’t see why colloidal silver would help. It is for infections, but you don’t have an infection.
If you have reactive tinnitus, basically you primarily treat the loudness hyperacusis or treat it first, then the tinnitus. My recent book, “Hypersensitive to sound” has a whole chapter dedicated to reactive tinnitus, and several chapters on loudness hyperacusis and how to treat it. You can see it at https://hearinglosshelp.com/shop/hypersensitive-to-sound/ .
Cordially,
Neil
Hello Doctor Bauman,
I have had tinnitus for almost 17 years now, never been afraid of it and always tried to make the noise fade in the background. Two weeks ago, I got Botox and started hearing many more tinnitus sounds a week ago (some so loud that are almost impossible to ignore). Can Botox cause a spike in tinnitus? Is there any study on this subject?
thank you,
Silvia Lund
Hi Silvia:
I have heard from numerous people that have found their Botox treatments either gave them loud tinnitus or made their existing tinnitus very loud. So you are not alone in what has happened to you–if that’s any consolation. In addition, numbers of people have also lost some or all their hearing. So you have to be VERY cautious if you are considering Botox treatments.
Cordially,
Neil
I began taking pycnogenol on a lark… I’m a meniere’s disease patient and thought, what the hell? why not try it. Might it make the roaring stop? Anyway, a week into taking 100mg a day, I began getting hyperacusis in the affected ear, but I didn’t connect the dots. About 2 weeks of this complete and utter hell… I wondered if it meant my ear was healing a bit from the hearing loss. 5 weeks after I began, I went to get my hearing test for a CROS device. The audiologist was shocked to report that I had recovered 100% word recognition in the affected ear… up from ZERO. And I’ve been upgraded from advanced hearing loss to moderate hearing loss. And I don’t need the CROS anymore. Four doctors told me that ear was damaged forever. No way of knowing if the herb did the trick or not… but I tend to think so.
PS. the hyperacusis calmed down after 3 weeks.
Hi Allison:
I can’t tell whether the Pycnogenol helped you are not, but if it did, great!
Since you have Meniere’s, why don’t you take the simple treatment mentioned in my comprehensive article on the subject and get rid of it once and for all? You can read this article at https://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/atlas-adjustments-alleviate-menieres-disease/ . Unfortunately, medical doctors don’t know this cure, so don’t tell their patients about it.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Allison:
Thanks for the report. Often with Meniere’s, there is a lack of adequate blood flow to your inner ears and this can cause hearing loss. If the blood flow is restored, hearing can come back–it doesn’t have to be permanent.
Since Meniere’s is primarily a result of your C1 and C2 vertebrae being out of proper alignment, treatment by an upper cervical chiropractor (not a conventional chiropractor) can often get rid of Meniere’s, restore blood flow to your inner ears and as a result, hearing can come back to some degree or other.
Cordially,
Neil
How long had you had meniere’s before beginning the supplement? I’ve had for 7 years now and just started taking it.
I’ve been left with severe tinnitus in my right ear after using Ciprodex drops for 5 days for what the doctor described as a bit of redness in my ear canal. Obviously the Ciprodex was toxic to my ear.. that happened 9 months ago. I have musical tinnitus which ramps up at night. I use sleeping pills to get some sleep. It’s brutal. I’m waiting on some Pycnogenol which hopefully will help me as I’m desperate!
Hi Anne:
Ciprofloxacin (Ciprodex) causes severe tinnitus in numbers of people. That is one good reason not to use it for minor problems such as “a bit of redness” in your ear. That’s gross overkill.
Musical tinnitus is not tinnitus at all, but is another condition called Musical Ear Syndrome (MES). Ciprofloxacin can also cause this as you attest. I suspect the MES is more a result of hearing loss caused by the Ciprofloxacin rather than from the Ciprofloxacin itself.
I doubt that your tinnitus or MES is caused by a lack of blood flow to your inner ears so I rather doubt that taking pycnogenol is going to make much difference.
For MES, you might do better to give your ears some real sounds to listen to as you fall asleep so your brain doesn’t have to manufacture it’s own sounds.
Cordially,
Neil