You may have heard that drinking a little alcohol reduces tinnitus symptoms in some people. Perhaps you were under the impression that drinking a little alcohol could worsen your tinnitus symptoms. Surprisingly, both those reports are correct.

A 1995 study at the Welsh Hearing Institute found that 22% of the participants reported increased tinnitus from drinking alcohol, while 16% reported reduced symptoms. The majority (62%) reported no change in their ringing ears from moderate drinking. So what should we make of these results?

Actually, this tells us a lot. First, it tells us that for most of us, moderate alcohol consumption is unlikely to affect our tinnitus one way or the other. But if it does, the effect could be good or bad. While I haven’t seen any definitive research into why the results came out this way, I can speculate based on what I know about tinnitus in general. The people who benefited from a little alcohol were probably the most stressed out people in the study. That’s because a small amount of alcohol can reduce your stress levels. And reduced stress can reduce tinnitus symptoms.

It is less clear why modest consumption of alcohol would increase tinnitus effects. But at least on possibility does present itself. It is the fact that alcohol actually acts as a stimulant for some people. Stimulants frequently increase tinnitus symptoms.

Heavy drinking, on the other hand, will almost surely increase tinnitus. The dehydration, headaches, and overall physiological damage caused by heavy drinking are almost guaranteed to worsen tinnitus.

Is Alcohol Good Or Bad For Your Tinnitus?

It isn’t that hard to find out whether alcohol affects your tinnitus and if so whether the effect is good or bad. But before we go into that, I have to be absolutely clear on this: In no way am I suggesting that you start drinking as a way to treat your tinnitus! The goal here is simply to help you find out whether or not the way you drink now in any way contributes to your hearing issues.

To find out how your current drinking patterns affect your tinnitus, you simply need to take some notes. For the next couple of weeks, pay attention to the level of your tinnitus before and after you drink, and record whether it increases or decreases.

This next step is a little harder, but can be very rewarding. Stop drinking for say 2-3 weeks. Completely. Over this period, make notes about the general level of your tinnitus to see whether it improves when you avoid alcohol. These two simple experiments should tell you all you need to know about how alcohol affects your tinnitus.

If you want to learn more about how what you put into your body affects your tinnitus, and about a holistic plan that addresses all the issues on the way to a tinnitus cure, click here.