Maybe My Story Will Help Someone (Shampoo That "Washes Away the Grey" Was the Cause of Spike)

[Matt Kenyon]

Hi all. I've had tinnitus for years now which I believe was caused by a combination of an infection and workplace noise exposure. Until recently I'd learnt to live with it until 8 weeks ago a spike from hell knocked me for 6. It took me a while to work out the reason for the spike as I'd been involved in an accident so wondered if that or the drugs I was prescribed were the cause.

It turns out by a process of elimination it was a shampoo I'd started using!!! To further explain. I'm pretty much bald, have been for years and importantly never used shampoo. Lately what little hair I have got is turning grey so when I saw an advert for a shampoo that washes away the grey I thought I'd give it a shot. Now without a doubt there is some chemical in the shampoo that really pi**ed off the tiny hairs in my ear and left me wondering if I'd never gone bald and used shampoo normally would I have had years of torment not knowing the cause was a chemical?

Now I'm not suggesting you all go bald but might be worth trying ear plugs when in the shower.

Just a thought. Good luck.

 

[GregCA]

Now without a doubt there is some chemical in the shampoo that really pi**ed off the tiny hairs in my ear and left me wondering if I'd never gone bald and used shampoo normally would I have had years of torment not knowing the cause was a chemical?

Now I'm not suggesting you all go bald but might be worth trying ear plugs when in the shower.

The tiny hairs in your ear (I assume you are referring to the hair cells) exist in your cochlea. When you take a shower, whatever gets into your ear canal is stopped by your ear drum and doesn't reach your middle ear, let alone your cochlea. None of your shampoo reaches your hair cells.

 

[BuzzyBee]

Do you have perforated eardrum?

 

[Bill Bauer]

None of your shampoo reaches your hair cells.

An ototoxic chemical in this shampoo might get absorbed by the skin, get into the bloodstream, and then reach the inner ear...

 

[grate_biff]

Following!

 

[BuzzyBee]

An ototoxic chemical in this shampoo might get absorbed by the skin, get into the bloodstream, and then reach the inner ear...

Seems unlikely, but you never know. I just found a hair loss for men site where they are talking about crazy reactions to Minoxidil. It probably doesn't happen to everyone, but maybe Matt has a chemical sensitivity. Who knows? At one point I thought my toothpaste might have caused it.

 

[Matt Kenyon]

All I'm explaining is my experience. I can ASSURE you the spike was caused by the shampoo. Maybe a point worth mentioning is that my ear has always held water and builds up a lot of wax. When the water decides to trickle out it absolutely stinks. On more than one occasion when I've been driving the person in the passenger seat has blurted out "what's that God awful smell" The point I'm trying to make is we don't fully understand the reason for T or there would be a cure. So surely it's worth being open to suggestion?

 

[GregCA]

All I'm explaining is my experience. I can ASSURE you the spike was caused by the shampoo.

I'm not questioning your statement of symptoms (in other words, I don't think you're making this up), but there is a difference between correlation and causation.

So surely it's worth being open to suggestion?

Definitely! However it is in our interest to find logical explanations about it. The hypothesis that it is affecting cochlea hair cells from the outer ear canal is unlikely (unless you have a perforated ear drum), so we should be looking at some other explanation.

 

[BuzzyBee]

All I'm explaining is my experience. I can ASSURE you the spike was caused by the shampoo.

Actually, it was really interesting! You got me reading a forum on Men's hair loss and a lot of people were talking about ear ringing. You are lucky that you are absolutely sure of the cause, because many people suffer the symptoms (I've been told tinnitus is a "symptom") and doctors can't pinpoint the cause.

 

[GregCA]

Actually, it was really interesting! You got me reading a forum on Men's hair loss and a lot of people were talking about ear ringing. You are lucky that you are absolutely sure of the cause, because many people suffer the symptoms (I've been told tinnitus is a "symptom") and doctors can't pinpoint the cause.

Some shampoos contain acetylsalicylic acid, which is known to be ototoxic. The path to get to the cochlea is still a mystery though.

 

[Matt Kenyon]

Actually, it was really interesting! You got me reading a forum on Men's hair loss and a lot of people were talking about ear ringing. You are lucky that you are absolutely sure of the cause, because many people suffer the symptoms (I've been told tinnitus is a "symptom") and doctors can't pinpoint the cause.

Well it was more a process of elimination. After my accident I initially thought that was the cause. Then wondered if it was the medication I was prescribed. I even thought because I was confined to my bedroom I was just noticing it more. The shampoo was the last on the list and by this time weeks had gone by and T was all consuming. When I 1st stopped using the shampoo T was still there but then it dawned on me that because the shampoo works like a dye it would take a while for it to wash out. With this in mind I used earplugs when in the shower and within a couple of days T had subsided. What's interesting is that T being what it is, once it had subsided I kinda forgot about how bad it had been and mistakenly used the shampoo without earplugs. T was back with a vengeance within 24 hrs!!! No prizes for guessing I binned the shampoo and although it took a few days T subsided again. Personally I'll stick to grey hair thanks. By a fookin long shot.

The clues in the title. "Maybe my story will help someone" And if it helps just one person out there then this thread has been worth it. One thing we all have in common on here is we all know what a horrible affliction tinnitus is

 

[Matt Kenyon]

The clues in the title. "Maybe my story will help someone" And if it helps just one person out there then this thread has been worth it. One thing we all have in common on here is we all know what a horrible affliction tinnitus is

And if by chance that one person just happens to be fabulously wealthy consider a donation hehe

 

[Quantum_Bunny]

Hi this has happened to me too...I used shampoo that seemed to spike my Tinnitus...I started using an organic natural brand over the last 2 months and the ringing greatly reduced to the point where I hardly knew it was there and sometimes didnt hear it at all...then I decided to try the old shampoo again because it made my hair very nice...using the old shampoo was a big mistake because it gave me a week long spike...Im now back down to acceptable levels after using the natural brand

 

[Bill Bauer]

using the old shampoo was a big mistake because it gave me a week long spike

Could you please let us know the ingredients of that shampoo?

 

[Bill Bauer]

An ototoxic chemical in this shampoo might get absorbed by the skin, get into the bloodstream, and then reach the inner ear...

Two people thought that the post above is funny. Are you saying that cosmetics and ingredients in shampoo are not absorbed by the skin to find their way into our bloodstream? Are you sure?

You might have heard that sure, parabens and other chemicals in your skin care are bad if ingested, but they can't penetrate your skin so you don't have anything to worry about. The fact is, much of what we place on our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream. Just think about nicotine and birth control patches.
...
Top products to look for cleanest ingredients:
...
Shampoo and conditioner (which is a wash off, but has high exposure due to where you use it and the way it "washes" over your entire body)
...
Baby shampoo: Do your homework well when choosing baby shampoo (and all baby products)! A chemical called 1,4-dioxane is all too common in most brands. Product tests released by author and researcher David Steinman found 1,4- dioxane in more than 12 different best-selling brands of both shampoo and bubble bath. And 1,4-dioxane is cited as a probable carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and as an animal carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program. Unfortunately, this is a clear-cut example of the hidden dangers that lurk in your products that are not listed on the label. Because 1,4-dioxane is produced during manufacturing, the FDA does not require for it to be listed as an ingredient on the labels of products.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-burnes/skin-care_b_1540929.html