If I Stop Smoking, Can My Tinnitus Go on a Holiday?

[Tigo]

I smoke almost for 20 years. Four years ago my ears starts hissing.

I went to the doctor and noticed a hearing loss of 60 dB !

If I stop smoking is it possible that my tinnitus goes on a holiday!?

My dad and his dad has also hearing loss but no tinnitus!

 

[RudyL90]

I do not know whether smoking and tinnitus are directly related. I doubt it. But I can imagine that if you quit smoking, it will in long term give you many health benefits (such as more energy) - of course dependent on how much you smoke, the more you do the better you might feel after having quit - and that might lower your tinnitus. A friend of mine stopped smoking a few months ago, I haven't seen him so energetic in a long time.

You might want to consider getting hearing aids. I think this will have a larger effect on your tinnitus.

 

[RonnieCarzatto]

I stopped smoking and my tinnitus never went away

 

[Telis]

I stopped smoking and my tinnitus never went away

Did it improve?

 

[RonnieCarzatto]

@Telis My attitude towards it improved. Might be a very slight decrease in either the noise or my anxiety levels. Not sure.

 

[Telis]

@Telis My attitude towards it improved. Might be a very slight decrease in either the noise or my anxiety levels. Not sure.

I'm not talking about your mental health, the physical tinnitus, no difference after quiting smoking ?

 

[PaulBe]

One of the side-effects of smoking is thought to be vasoconstriction, this on top of intra-vascular plaque formation which smoking also apparently supports. If smoking is implicated in tinnitus it could relate to the effect on blood flow, and no improvement upon ceasing smoking could be because the damage is done and can't be significantly undone. I don't know if there's any angiography studies done on inner-ear blood flow, but our Pulsatile tinnitus cohort may know more about this.

 

[PaulBe]

I stopped smoking and my tinnitus never went away

How long ago?

 

[DebInAustralia]

id still be motivated to give the ciggies away for overall health benefits; with or without t.

 

[Bobbie7]

I stopped smoking and my tinnitus never went away

While your tinnitus has not gone away, I am quite sure your lungs are a lot pinker and healthier! (This note from a former 20-year smoker)

 

[Telis]

Yeah I think everyone gets it that it's better for a person not to smoke. This thread is about smoking and how it effects tinnitus, maybe we could stay on track here.

 

[RonnieCarzatto]

@Telis Absolutely no change at all to my tinnitus. Exact same noise, pitch, and I very randomly get that spontaneous fleeting tinnitus, you knownwhen it suddenly gets really loud for like five seconds then fades away.

 

[RonnieCarzatto]

@PaulBe I had quit for 6 months. The second I got my tinnitus, which randomly came out of nowhere, I quit cigarettes, coffee, booze, kicked up exercise, drank loads of water. Despite the smoking I was a very fit guy already who ran marathons and led a complete stress free lifestyle and slept 8 perfect hours every day.

So, 6 months smoke free, absolutely zero change to my tinnitus. Completely unaffected in volume, noise, pitch. Just constantly there, occasional fleeting/spontaneous 5 second spikes. Exact same as it was despite drastic lifestyle changes.

 

[Raphael7713]

No I don't think so tbh. You should quitt smoking anyways ...but I do not think it's the cause of ur T.

 

[PaulBe]

I've never seen tinnitus listed as an outcome of smoking, but its always possible that the link is there but simply hasn't been established scientifically.

 

[Telis]

I've never seen tinnitus listed as an outcome of smoking, but its always possible that the link is there but simply hasn't been established scientifically.

I've read that some of the chemicals in cigarettes are ototoxic, and that it is one of the leading causes of hearing loss. I will see if I can dig up the article.

 

[Telis]

@PaulBe

https://www.audicus.com/smoking-your-ears-the-impact-of-cigarettes-on-hearing-loss/

 

[PaulBe]

You know @Telis, on the topic of blood flow, the first ENT I saw, casually threw at me, as I was leaving his rooms, the suggestion that I may have had a stroke. He based this on my issue being confined to one ear (his experience he said was that musicians had bilateral tinnitus). My cholesterol was particularly high at the time which he said could have done it. At the time I thought he was a twat, and he left me with this information with no advice or follow-up, but I've never really forgotten it, although, with hindsight I don't know if it was already too late, and were he to be correct, whether a vascular blockage in that area could even be addressed. In the end pretty much every corner of our physical health is driven by oxygen delivery and acid-waste removal at the cellular level.

 

[Tinker Bell]

You know @Telis, on the topic of blood flow, the first ENT I saw, casually threw at me, as I was leaving his rooms, the suggestion that I may have had a stroke. He based this on my issue being confined to one ear (his experience he said was that musicians had bilateral tinnitus). My cholesterol was particularly high at the time which he said could have done it. At the time I thought he was a twat, and he left me with this information with no advice or follow-up, but I've never really forgotten it, although, with hindsight I don't know if it was already too late, and were he to be correct, whether a vascular blockage in that area could even be addressed. In the end pretty much every corner of our physical health is driven by oxygen delivery and acid-waste removal at the cellular level.

I have one-sided hearing loss with tinnitus and my ENT also said that a small stroke could have been the cause.

I was referred to a neurologist who specializes in diagnosing and treating stroke patients, had an MRI, MRA, MRV and a CT angiogram. Everything came back with no evidence of a stroke.

If it's any consolation, the neurologist had told me that even if they were to find something, the damage was done and they would not be able to restore my hearing.

 

[Bobbie7]

I've read that some of the chemicals in cigarettes are ototoxic, and that it is one of the leading causes of hearing loss. I will see if I can dig up the article.

From my own personal experience and that of my mother and two aunts I do not believe there is a correlation between smoking and tinnitus. I smoked for 20 years and I was a "human chimney"... averaging 2 packs/day and on weekends more like 2 1/2 packs/day. I stopped finally 37 years ago and late in life I developed tinnitus and it had absolutely nothing to do with smoking. A further example: my mother smoked for way longer than I did until she decided to quit and she never got tinnitus. My two aunts also were human chimneys, smoking all their lives and they never got tinnitus. I also know many others who never got this malady. Of course it was a vile habit which I enjoyed but I was addicted for sure and a slave to tobacco. While some may think it is a cause for their tinnitus, in my case it surely was not. Then again each person's physiology is different.

 

[linearb]

I mostly only smoke 1-2x a month, but I've gone through periods of heavier use.

No impact on my tinnitus.

 

[Telis]

From my own personal experience and that of my mother and two aunts I do not believe there is a correlation between smoking and tinnitus. I smoked for 20 years and I was a "human chimney"... averaging 2 packs/day and on weekends more like 2 1/2 packs/day. I stopped finally 37 years ago and late in life I developed tinnitus and it had absolutely nothing to do with smoking. A further example: my mother smoked for way longer than I did until she decided to quit and she never got tinnitus. My two aunts also were human chimneys, smoking all their lives and they never got tinnitus. I also know many others who never got this malady. Of course it was a vile habit which I enjoyed but I was addicted for sure and a slave to tobacco. While some may think it is a cause for their tinnitus, in my case it surely was not. Then again each person's physiology is different.

Thanks for that. Yeah I don't know in my situation, I do know that smoking definitely did not cause it as I was a non smoker when I got tinnitus. Cause of my tinnitus was barotrauma/ruptured ear drums followed by ototoxic drugs, both causing quite heavy hearing loss. I started smoking at about 3 months after onset, at this time my tinnitus was very bad, but I have lost more hearing over the last few years, wondering if smoking with already compromised ears is maybe a contributing factor. I don't smoke as heavy as you did, that's a lot of smokes!! I smoke maybe 8-10 a day.

 

[Bobbie7]

Hi @Telis - I just did a quick search on "Do people with tinnitus who smoke lose their hearing" so you may want to see all the information listed on various websites concerning this (there are many). While some articles may indicate a link to smoking, I think it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly what caused your specific increased hearing loss; it may be attributable to some other factor(s) which occurred over the last few years.

Many years later as I have said, when I got tinnitus (loud....from extreme, unremitting stress) I went to the ENT and an audiogram was done indicating that I have sub-clinical hearing loss in one ear (the ear with the tinnitus). Although I haven't been to the ENT since, I feel that I have sustained more hearing loss in that ear.

@Telis - It's good you are not a "chimney" as I was. I'm sure you are familiar with the saying "It's easy to stop smoking, I've done IT hundreds of times!". That saying is so appropos. I had tried many times to quit... limiting myself to only 3 cigarettes... and a bit more each day and it never worked -- I always returned to the habit. Until.... one day I smoked as usual but I felt so very ill... leaving work and traveling on the subway I had to ask someone for a seat (which I never would have done) dragged myself home and just fell on the bed feeling horrible and vowing "tomorrow I will stop it altogether". Well... I did!!!! The motivational factor for me was "feeling sick and fearing becoming worse". It was difficult stopping all at once but I knew I had to do it. I was quite irritable, chewing gum very often and eating more than usual but after a long while I got over the craving thankfully. Many people had cautioned me about the ills of smoking but I never listened. Feeling ill and fear is a great motivating factor, I'll say!

Take care and wishing you a peaceful day.

Barbara

 

[Bobbie7]

@Telis - Although I, my mother and my 2 aunts never got tinnitus from smoking, it is possible there is a link between cigarettes and hearing loss in those who already have tinnitus. Since there many be so many elements which factor into this you may never know but if you feel there is a link... you can limit your smoking even further or stop it completely. Be well.