Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen are the two most commonly used medications, with up to 24% of adults taking ibuprofen (an NSAID) and 28% taking acetaminophen in any week (Kyle et al., 2015). Salicylate, the active ingredient in aspirin, is also widely used for pain control and reduction of inflammation. With such ubiquitous use, a causal relationship with ototoxicity would have enormous public health impact, yet conclusions vary related to the impact of these over the counter (OTC) medications on hearing and tinnitus. Nevertheless, as many patients unfortunately conclude that all OTC medications are safe because they require no prescription, the potenti
The effect that tinnitus has on quality of life is quite variable. This is largely due to the diversity of tinnitus presentations: it can be acute or chronic, constant or intermittent, subtle or intense. The impact on tinnitus sufferers is therefore correlated with each patient’s individual experience. While many sufferers report minimal reduction in quality of life resulting from tinnitus (Teixeira et al., 2017), others report severe effects. For example, in a large cross- sectional study in Korea, 21% of tinnitus sufferers reported suicidal ideations, and 1.2% reported suicide attempts (Seo et al., 2016). A survey of its members conducted by the American Tinnitus Association (ATA) in
Many pharmacologic treatments have been suggested for tinnitus, but most claims of effectiveness do not withstand scientific evaluation or meta-analysis (Hesse, 2016). Multiple non-pharmacologic therapies are either currently available or are being developed for tinnitus patients (electric and magnetic stimulation, vagal nerve stimulation, acupuncture, acoustic stimulation, music therapy, hearing aids, cochlear implants, cognitive behavioral therapy, tinnitus retraining therapy, and others), but gaps in evidence of effectiveness exist for all of these (Hesse, 2016). As the medical community continues to combat the suffering caused by tinnitus, we must consider not just the effectivene
"I have severe hearing damage. It's manifested itself as tinnitus, ringing in the ears at frequencies that I play guitar. It hurts, it's painful, and it's frustrating"– Pete Townsend It is not surprising that playing guitar for The Who over many years is a risk factor for developing tinnitus. Many tinnitus sufferers report a history of noise trauma that in many cases has ceased long before the tinnitus develops (Turner et al., 2012). However, tinnitus need not be associated with a long career in music, the military, or other vocations that involve exposure to loud sounds. As much as 25% of the United States population suffers from tinnitus (Bhatt et al., 2017), indicating a widespread