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Peripheral cytokines from COVID-19 vaccines could cause or exacerbate tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, theorized Shaowen Bao, an associate professor of neuroscience and physiology at the University of Arizona.
Recent articles on Drug Discovery & Development on the possible link between tinnitus and COVID-19 vaccines have attracted hundreds of comments.
Tinnitus reports
Some 0.65% of COVID-19 vaccine recipients who filed reports in CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reported the issue. Although VAERS is not exhaustive, those 369 reports out of a total of 56,722 VAERS entries represent a tiny fraction of 190 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been administered in the U.S. to date.
Six volunteers in J&J’s Phase 3 trial for its COVID-19 vaccine complained of tinnitus. FDA, however, concluded there was insufficient evidence to link the issue to the vaccine.
COVID-19 infections and vaccines summon a strong response and corresponding cytokine release, which, in some individuals, prompt inflammation that could be linked to tinnitus, Bao mused. “People who have a pre-existing condition of hearing loss are more likely affected by COVID or vaccines,” he added.
A study published in the International Journal of Audiology concluded that up to 15% of adults diagnosed with COVID-19 develop some type of hearing problem, including tinnitus.
Another study found that COVID-19 infections exacerbated tinnitus in 40% of people, resulted in no change in 54%, and improved tinnitus in the remainder.
No clear link
To date, there are no medical literature linking COVID-19 vaccines to tinnitus, although there are a limited number of case reports linking other vaccines to hearing problems.
Bao has researched the role of neuroinflammation in triggering tinnitus after noise-induced hearing loss in rodents. A separate study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience in 2020 concluded that “disease-related increase in brain proinflammatory cytokine release could be a risk factor for noise-induced auditory processing disorder and tinnitus.”
“The paper showed that cytokines and hearing loss synergistically cause impairment in a gap detection test,” Bao said, referring to an audiology-based technique that can test for tinnitus in animals.
Filed Under: Infectious Disease
For those of us who are experiencing tinnitus after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, is there any treatment for the condition described in this article? What can we expect?
I wear hearing aids and it’s my understanding that there is now technology there that can help with tinnitus. The hearing aid adds a more desirable background noise (a white noise) and the brain learns to focus on that instead of the ringing. If the ringing doesn’t stop after a while, I would recommend seeing an audiologist and asking about that.
No official medical treatments. However, I have had some improvement with Oxytocin nasal spray. That being said, I was already taking Ginkgo Biloba and Lipo-Flavonoid daily for a few months before the nasal spray. The tinnitus is not completely gone, and I will likely have to treat it with these expensive products for the rest of my life.
Wondering the same as Denise. Have had tinnitus since April 6th from second moderna covid19 injection. Started approximately half hour after receiving. Is there anything that can be done? What CAN we expect? Will it ever subside?
I have had tinnitus for 35 years. I was going to get the vaccine and had an appointment. When I saw all the posts here about the side effects I cancelled. I couldn’t risk getting any worse than I already am even though COVID (the virus) can cause tinnitus and even death.
You should both go to an ENT. You might be able to see improvement by steroids, but I am no doctor and am just going by what others have posted. I’m so sorry this has happened to you.
I am in the same boat as you. When I ask for advice from the medical community I don’t get much of a response. I want to get vaccinated but the thought of my tinnitus getting worse is holding me back. I’ve already had issues with it getting worse when taking antibiotics.
Hey folks, if you developed tinnitus after receiving the Covid 19 vaccine, there is a Facebook group that is very helpful and quite a lovely community “Tinnitus and Hearing Loss/Impairment after Covid vaccination”. Went from 30 member to 1,000 in a few weeks. Definitely a growing movement. It has helped me feel not so alone in my experience.
I will also second the FB group to get connected, but http://www.tinnitustalk.com has a lot of resources including a fantastic podcast. I lost hearing in one ear after my 2nd dose of Moderna. Please report these problems directly to the vaers.hhs.gov database so we can help researchers determine if this is statistically significant.
george98034 – Do they think your hearing loss is permanent? That’s awful
Brian – thank you for doing a follow up article regarding tinnitus in Covid vaccine recipients. This is really helpful and hopefully we can find an a speedy treatment for this agonizing side effect of the Covid vaccine.
Hi all. I developed sudden onset, bilateral tinnitus 10 days after my 2nd Moderna jab. Had no side effects w/ first jab and only mild flu SX for 24 hrs after second. I am at 3 weeks today w/ no improvement and have only seen my PCP and got a hearing test which was normal. No prior HX of any hearing problems. I have been following the FB page mentioned above for 2 weeks and it seems like all of this is too new to know cause. If it might be neuroinflammation, would I see a neuro versus ENT? Also have this same question out to my PCP.
Thanks!
Got moderna vaccine on 3/25, light swelling in left-face, no other significant symptoms. Next day, normal face but little lump behind my left ear. Tinnitus started on 4/8, and a cold sore on my lip about 5 days later. I speculate that the vaccine affected some dormant virus. In my case, I suspect a herpes virus simplex 1 (linked to the cause of cold sores and may be involved with Bell’s palsy). Prescription for Natural Healing noted when HSV-1 is dormant, it usually establishes a home in nerve cells near the ear… this may help to explain the tinnitus??? I have a telemedicine appt next week, so I’ll mention my suspicion and see what he says…
I suspect the same. Any update?
I am no where near to finding an answer… ENT, and my general physician say no way can be connected… I’m exhausted looking for answers. An audio gram is scheduled but not for another month… I’m going to a naturopath next
any luck ?
I had tinnitus with the first dose of the vaccine, but it went away after 2 to 3 weeks (just in time for the second dose). Since it went away once, I’m really hoping that is what will happen this time too.
Any update on this? I’m wondering the same.
About 9 days after the first shot, I had tinnitus for three days and my right ear was numb. I had my second shot on February 18th. I developed tinnitus on February 23rd and it has been 24 hours a day ringing in my head. I have been to an allergist, and ENT, a neurologist, had a CT scan and physical therapy. It has been almost three months of nonstop ringing.
I have been experiencing persistent tinnitus since about a week after getting the J&J vaccine. ENT says he has seen several other patients with the same issue from all three vaccines. He’s not sure if it will subside. I have always had it off and on for many years but never this continuous or as loud.
I had increased tinnitus after the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. It still persists after 5 weeks. I decided to postpone the second dose.
Has anyone had a similar problem and later decided to take the second dose? Did you observe tinnitus getting worse after the second dose?
Do you have any update on this ?
I received my first Moderna vaccine shot on 03/24/2021 at 11:30am. After about 15 min I felt light headed and had a ringing in my ears, both symptoms went away after about 15 – 20 min.
I received my second dose on 04/21/2021 at 11:30am, with no immediate side effects, or any noted side effects the rest of the day. The next morning I experienced fatigue and chills (no fever), and a ringing in my ears, I also had a metallic taste in my mouth. Two days after the second dose I felt a little fatigued, no chills, no metal taste, however the ringing in the ears was still present. The ringing in the ears was almost gone by the third day, however yesterday is became more intense and the metallic taste came back. The ringing subsided after about 20 – 30 mins but was still present and the metallic taste went away. The ringing has been pretty much continuous ever since.
I am currently on a 9 day Prednisone regimen. Three days ago the ringing went away completely for a few minutes, than came back at a low level, and varied in intensity the rest of the day but overall a vast improvement, next day low to mid level intensity, yesterday morning the ringing woke me up at 3:30am, the ringing has been intense the past two days.
I’m 39 and have had tinnitus since my early 20s, I believe. I received my first Pfizer dose on 04/16/2021. My sons came home from their father’s with a cold the day after. I must have caught it because I developed an earache three days after my first dose. (This is only conjecture, obviously.)
My tinnitus became almost deafening in my left ear, which was also the same side as the injection. The earache went away, but the tinnitus continued, mainly in my left ear. My ear also seemed to become muffled or full of water within a week.
It started to go away within the week before my second dose. On 05/07/2021, I received my second Pfizer dose. I told them before my dose about my ear and was asked why I didn’t see my personal physician. I did not seek treatment because I figured it would likely fade over the next few weeks.
The muffled sound went away completely the week after receiving my second dose. I’m still dealing with tinnitus, but it’s at its normal pre-covid vaccine levels now.
I am 28. Currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Never had tinnitus. No underlying health issue. Do not drink nor smoke.
I had my second dose of Pfizer vaccine on Fri 11 June and experienced the usual symptoms (fatigue, soreness, low-grade fever, chills) on Sat 12 June. However, I have also developed a sudden onset of tinnitus in my right ear. It has been three days since the continuous ringing but symptoms have yet to improve.
I have just reported to Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS.hhs.gov) – will be seeing my GP tomorrow.
Do you have any update ?
Hi everyone,
There’s an article on the web whereby the mRNA vaccine creator, Dr. Malone,
says that
the spike protein of the mRNA vaccines is “biologically active and it could
cause adverse events if it did not stay stuck to the cells that were
transfected.”
Perhaps this explains why some of us are having tinnitus spikes
or tinnitus with the mRNA vaccines and some not. It all depends if the spike protein which
was engineered to stay stuck actually does stay stuck. If it becomes free, it is going
places where it shouldn’t. (example – the myocarditis episodes in teenagers and young adults)
See the article on the web with Dr. Malone, the mRNA creator
*Of course, there is still the problem of why tinnitus is occurring in some people
after the non mRNA vaccines. But for the mRNA vaccines, Dr. Malone’s explanation is
worth exploring.
Hi All… Please kindly let us know if any one got recovered from tinnitus that occurred due to vaccine?
I have been reading all of these postings here and elsewhere on the Internet. I have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine due to the fact that I “ALREADY” have tinnitus. My tinnitus began about 2 1/2 years ago and it is very uncomfortable to live with. I cannot imagine risking this by getting a COVID-19 vaccine that has been reported to have adverse auditory affects in the form of tinnitus of which in my case, it would only make my tinnitus extreme and perhaps I would completely lose my hearing. The COVID-19 vaccine is very suspicious and has not yet been FDA approved. There are too many unanswered questions regarding its efficacy, legitimacy, and long-term affects. I am sorry for those individuals who have tinnitus due to this COVID-19 vaccine. I continue to wear my mask, exercise social distancing, and am very cautious regarding my social activities. Comments are welcome.
Thanks for sharing. Can empathize with your situation.
Here are a few thoughts from covering this topic for a few months. Hope something here is helpful.
FDA approval may come relatively soon. A few companies are filing or have already filed for full approval. Not sure what FDA’s priorities are in terms of responding to those versus other items.
From what I’ve seen, the auditory risks are greater from COVID-19 itself (and long COVID) than from vaccines, but there isn’t a lot of data available looking at auditory effects of COVID-19 specifically. It seems a higher percentage of people with COVID have reported tinnitus than vaccine recipients, but data on this topic is scant.
The unanswered questions about the vaccine efficacy, to my mind, stem largely from the variants. Data from the U.S., Israel and elsewhere generally supported the circa 95% efficacy figure of the mRNA vaccines. The figure has likely fallen given the rise of more-dangerous variants like Delta, which are the biggest threat to areas with high proportions of people who are not vaccinated.
Also, we summarized a study here that could find no link between hearing loss and COVID-19 vaccines. Wasn’t a definitive study, but thought I would mention.
Brian,
Thank you for your reply. This is very good information that you have shared and will help me in my decision-making process.
I got Pfizer shot on 19 June 2021, after 14 days, suddenly I got extreme vertigo but on the right side. It lasted for 2 days, and on the third day, at 4 July at 10 am when I was laying in my bed watching TV, it started, it was a very loud high pitch tone on the right side in the right ear.
I was stupid not to connect dots but at 9 July I got my second dose of Pfizer.
Almost immediately the tone in my right ear started to become unbearable.
Shame to everyone who propagated this vaccine and they knew that this can destroy your life.
This is not life anymore!
And the tenacity of doctors which I asked about the side effect was arrogantly just pain in the hand where the shot is administered.
I should assume when someone tells me there are no side effects that there are almost a million side effects.
Everyone who suggest Pfizer-Moderna, shame you
I took the Covid19 Moderna vaccine 1st shot on 5/3/2021 and the 2nd shot on 6/7/2021. I was going ok. No serious problems. I took my 2nd Shingrix vaccine shot on 6/22/2021 and within 4 to 5 hours I had tinnitus. The troubling thing is I didn’t need any of these . I had already had Covid19 in 2020, but my relative was hitting on me I needed to get the shot so I could hang out with family. Regarding the shingrix shot I wasn’t even going to the doctor for that but rather blood pressure. But one day this spring the nurse asked me if I would like to take Shingrix. The lesson here is be more discerning and do your due diligence investigating these vaccines. Just say no to these wolves that are trying to enter your lives. It has now been over a months since the tinnutus. I still have the tinnitus and have not been able to get to sleep with out helps such as ZzzQuil or Lorezapem. It does seem a little lower in volume, but if you can’t get to sleep that’s a problem, but I’m hoping for relief. I went to the ENT doctor and he said it should go away, but no guarantees. He said these vaccines are designed to provoke a response so they create some level of inflammation which probably caused my tinnitus. I did see a story on youtube where a 55 year old caught Tinnitus from the Covid19 vaccine but then it went away 2.5 months later. So that’s what I am hoping for.
Third month of brand new tinnitus 24/7, have seen several doctors. No doctor will test immune reaction to Moderna mRNA vaccine. Families with immunity disease clusters may want to stay away from mRNA vaccine, and get more traditional vaccine. Don’t do mass vaccination site, cuz now there is no doctor to go back to. Or get the name of the Doctor that injects you at mass vaccination. CDC, Moderna, all of my doctors are aware of my problem but offer no help, except for me to make an appointment at the Mayo Clinic, or wait 6 months to see if they all go away. After Moderna Vaccine I also have shortness of breath, and a burning left foot, all these are new. here is what I found (this is a one time post, I don’t expect to be back)
US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8056822/
To the Editor:
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been associated with the development of autoimmune processes.[1], [2], [3], [4] Molecular mimicry has been suggested as a potential mechanism for these associations.1 In an in vitro study, Vojdani et al. 5 showed that antibodies against the spike protein S1 of SARS-CoV-2 had high affinity against the following human tissue proteins: transglutaminase 3, transglutaminase 2, anti-extractable nuclear antigen, nuclear antigen, and myelin basic protein. As this is the same viral protein that the vaccine mRNA codes for, it is plausible that these vaccines may unmask autoimmune diseases in predisposed patients. Recently, several cases of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) developing days after COVID-19 vaccination, have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), reinforcing the possibility of vaccine-induced autoimmunity.6
I have had ringing in my right ear (same side as vaccine injection) since about two days after my first dose of Pfizer. I’m hoping it goes away before my next shot because it’s making me hesitate to get the next one, which I was already reluctant to get it at all until Delta came to town.
First posted in April a few weeks after my first Moderna shot. I woke up 2 weeks after the shot suddenly in the middle of the night with a loud roaring. Fast forward to today. Saw ENT, couldn’t say whether it was from vaccine or not. Still have the high pitch EEEEE 6 months later. Cancelled my second moderna shot scheduled for tomorrow because tinnitus is persistent and bit louder now. To add insult to injury, my employer is going to terminate me if I don’t get the second shot. My ENT wrote a time limited medical exemption but I’m not sure if he will renew that exemption for me. My hearing test was normal for my age but he is going to see me again in December for repeat hearing test to see if I have any loss. Did you all know that Moderna has 100 mcg of the vaccine while Pfizer has only 30 mcg? I have an autoimmune condition so I feel the higher dose just put my immune system in a tail spin. I want to get the second vaccine to be protected, because I agree, COVID is not going away but am so fearful of that this will get worse. Keep posting so we have some glimmer of hope that this will end.
I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have had both AZ doses in April and July. I have had some tinnitus for years but after receiving the AZ my tinnitus is 24 hours a day. It is quite unbearable. I am seeing a GP this week to get a referral to an ENT specialist, I don’t know what I will do if this condition continues. Has anyone come up with any remedy as yet?