ENT doctors often tell their patients with tinnitus to try to avoid, or cut back on salt, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. But a recent clinical study found giving up caffeine does not relieve tinnitus and caffeine withdrawal might even add to the problem.

The first study of its kind conducted by the Centre for Hearing and Balance Studies at Bristol University in the UK was randomized and placebo based, For thirty days they tested 66 subjects who typically consumed an average of 150 mg of caffeine per day drinking tea of coffee. The aim of the study was to provide evidence for therapeutic practice to the tinnitus community.

The participants usual caffeinated drink was replaced with double-blinded supplies, under one of two conditions: usual caffeine consumption followed by phased withdrawal; or phased withdrawal followed by reintroduction then usual caffeine consumption. The test subjects did not know what they were being given. They would receive caffeine some days and not others.

Participants were required to complete a questionnaire to measure their tinnitus three times during the study; at the start, after they had been withdrawn from caffeine for ten days, and after they had consumed their normal amount of caffeine for ten days. The participants also kept a very brief record of their tinnitus symptoms each day.

“Caffeine had no effect on tinnitus severity,” according to the study. They reported that the mean difference between caffeinated and decaffeinated days was less than half a per cent on the Tinnitus Severity index.

While the participants had significant adverse symptoms from caffeine withdrawal, “no evidence was found to justify caffeine abstinence as a therapy to alleviate tinnitus,” they explained. But researchers pointed out that acute effects of caffeine withdrawal might add to the burden of tinnitus.

Editor’s Note: At Arches, we believe that paying attention to what we consume is important to recovery over tinnitus. Rule of thumb: If your tinnitus is worse after consuming caffeine or any other substance… avoid it.

-Brent Curtis