How Can I Stop Tinnitus Immediately?

Properly treating tinnitus can help stop ringing in ears immediately and effectively.

Tinnitus is perceiving sound without an external source. Treating underlying causes may help, but there's no guaranteed quick cure. Read on to learn what causes tinnitus, and how to treat tinnitus and alleviate the distress it causes.

Tinnitus — sometimes called ringing in the ears — is when you perceive sound even though there's no actual external source making that sound. The sounds you may hear when you have tinnitus include ringing, buzzing, pulsating, whooshing, humming, and hissing. It can affect one or both of your ears, and you may develop it slowly over time or all of a sudden.

Tinnitus can be very irritating and considerably worsen the quality of life. As a result, it is understandable why you may want to seek relief and learn how to stop ringing in ears immediately. Unfortunately, there is no known quick ringing ears cure. Although it doesn't show immediate effect, tinnitus can be treated, and the treatment for tinnitus depends on what's causing it — it may include hearing aids, medications, and behavioral therapies.

About 15% of the world's population has tinnitus. In the United States, as many as 50 million people have chronic tinnitus. Men are more likely to get tinnitus than women.

You may develop tinnitus for several reasons, which may or may not be age-related.

Some minor causes for temporary tinnitus include:

• Earwax collection
• Exposure to loud noise
• Dehydration
• Ear infections

The main causes of tinnitus can be broadly divided into:

• Age-related hearing loss: This is the leading cause of tinnitus. As you age, your hearing gets worse — it can worsen further if you're exposed to loud noises regularly for a long time.
• Muscle or bone-related hearing loss: Tinnitus may also result from spasms in the very small inner ear muscles or whiplash. Dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) leads to inflammation in the jawbone and its tendons, which can also result in tinnitus.
• Inner ear disorders: Hardening of the tiny bones of the ear, or a problem with the tube that connects your ear to your throat, can result in ringing in your ears.
• Blood vessel abnormalities: High blood pressure (hypertension) and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) are common causes of tinnitus. Blood vessel malformation during fetal development can also result in tinnitus later in life.
• Alcohol consumption: Alcohol is known to be connected to tinnitus in complex ways. Alcohol dilates blood vessels, which can increase the sensitivity of the inner ears as well as the brain, and worsen tinnitus. Dehydration from alcohol is another contributing factor. Fermented products like wine and beer contain high amounts of a molecule known as tyramine, which may cause tinnitus, so even one glass of wine may worsen tinnitus.
• Medications: Many common over-the-counter medications, including aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antibiotics, water pills (diuretics), antimalarial drugs, and antidepressants, can contribute to tinnitus.
• Tumors and cancer treatments: Chemotherapy, radiation therapy on the head and neck, and the formation of small benign tumors on the ear nerve, called acoustic neuromas, can result in hearing loss and tinnitus.
• Neurological and other diseases: Several neurological diseases can affect the nerves and areas of the brain that transmit and process hearing. These diseases include Meniere's disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and Chiari malformation. Depression and anxiety can cause it as well. Diabetes and thyroid disorders, too, may cause tinnitus.

How to get rid of tinnitus depends mainly on the cause. Temporary tinnitus usually resolves on its own once the cause is treated. In many cases, tinnitus can't be cured easily or completely, and it may be hard to stop ringing in ears immediately. That's why most treatments for tinnitus are focused on alleviating symptoms and improving the quality of life. Your doctor will decide on what treatment to administer based on the cause of your tinnitus.

Treatment for tinnitus due to hearing loss

It's important for people with age-related hearing loss to work closely with their audiologist to find the best hearing aids for their individual situation — the right set of hearing aids can drastically improve tinnitus symptoms. Hearing aids can also show great benefits in people with hearing loss caused by medications, repeated inner ear infections, or tumors. In some extreme situations, a doctor may recommend cochlear implants.

Treatment for tinnitus due to medications

If a medication is causing tinnitus, discontinuing it may help improve your symptoms. This may also help prevent progression to severe hearing loss, mainly because tinnitus is a sign of early hearing loss. Consult your doctor before you stop taking any medication — sudden discontinuation can result in dangerous side effects.

Treatment for tinnitus due to abnormal blood vessels

Abnormal blood vessel-related tinnitus usually feels like pulses inside your ear. For this kind of tinnitus, the treatment depends on severity. If your symptoms aren't too strong and don't affect your quality of life much, your doctor may recommend behavioral therapy. In severe cases, surgery may be needed.

Medications for tinnitus treatment

There's no simple one-size-fits-all medication for tinnitus, but certain medications have been found to have good results in people with tinnitus:

• Benzodiazepines: Act by reducing anxiety.
• Carbamazepine: An anti-seizure medication.
• Steroids: Offer some benefits only when given as an injection behind the eardrum.

Behavioral therapy for tinnitus

Behavioral therapies are used in combination with other therapies to treat people with tinnitus. These primarily focus on helping cope with the annoyance and distress caused by tinnitus. These behavioral therapies include:

• Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT): Trains you to get used to the noise.
• Biofeedback: A relaxation technique that trains you to control your reactions to tinnitus.
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): Helps you develop coping strategies and distraction techniques and feel relaxed.

Dual Mode Stimulation for tinnitus

In March 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a prescription neuromodulation device (Lenire) for the treatment of tinnitus. Lenire uses a combination of audio and tongue stimulation to relieve the condition. The device consists of a tongue piece that sits on the tongue inside the closed mouth, earphones, and a unit that controls the tongue stimulation and audio volume. The tongue piece delivers mild electric pulses to the tongue surface while calming music plays in the earphones, which soothes tinnitus. The product can be comfortably used by patients at home.

Does tinnitus go away on its own? In some cases, tinnitus goes away on its own. Temporary ringing in the ears caused by exposure to loud noise, earwax blockage, dehydration, and infections can go away within a couple of weeks, once the cause is treated. If you have hearing loss associated with compacted earwax, go to a professional to clear out the block; do not attempt to use earbuds to clear it, as you may make it worse. If you have any signs of an ear infection, get it treated immediately.

To prevent developing tinnitus or making it worse, make sure you are always adequately hydrated. Avoid chronic exposure to loud noises, and if that is not possible because of your profession, wear earplugs to protect your ears. Limit alcohol consumption, and avoid beer and wine in particular, because they may contribute to tinnitus.

How to stop ear ringing from other chronic causes

There's no quick, guaranteed method of curing tinnitus. It's important you visit your doctor and get an accurate diagnosis of what is causing the condition. This way, you and your doctor will be able to discuss the best treatment options for you, as well as their risks and benefits. Typically, they'll recommend a mixed treatment approach combining some of the above treatment methods. While chronic tinnitus may not go away completely, you will be able to find relief with treatment.

What is the little-known trick for tinnitus?

One of the lesser recognized causes for tinnitus is tightness in the masseter muscle in the jaw that helps us move our jaws, chew, and bite. Releasing the tension in this muscle is a little-known trick that may work for tinnitus. Masseter stretching and massaging can help loosen the muscle and relieve tinnitus. In addition, you can also massage the area above and around the ears.

Where do you press to stop tinnitus?

Pressing different acupressure points around the jaw, around, and above the ears can help reduce tinnitus caused by tension in the masseter muscles. Another technique is occiput tapping. Close your ears, cupping your palms over them, with fingers on the back of your head covering the occiput region. Place your index finger on top of the ring finger and tap the occiput by flicking down your index finger off the ring finger. This creates a resonating effect which may relieve tinnitus.

What triggers ringing in the ears?

Exposure to loud noise, earwax blockage in the ear, dehydration, alcohol consumption, stress, and ear infections can all trigger ringing in the ears. The most common cause for chronic ringing in the ears is age-related hearing loss. Other triggers include some medications, hearing loss due to certain health conditions, inner ear disorders, blood vessel abnormalities, certain neurologic disorders, tumors in the auditory areas, and some cancer treatments.

Can I live a long life with tinnitus?

You can live a long life with tinnitus. Tinnitus has no direct connection to life expectancy, however, some health conditions that cause tinnitus may reduce life expectancy.

Does anything actually help tinnitus?

Tinnitus caused by earwax block, minor infections, dehydration, or exposure to loud noise does go away once the cause is resolved. Treatment for the underlying conditions, behavioral therapies, and dual-mode neurostimulation help cope with tinnitus.