Ibuprofen

[marigold60]

Ive just realised my tinnitus gets worse after I've taken ibuprofen. Just googled this and seen that it can happen. Has anyone else noticed this and if so have you found a relatively strong painkiller that doesn't affect it

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

This reaction has been noted in research - but is felt to affect a small sub-set of long-term users of ibuprofen and aspirin. The effect identified is ototoxic - which is to say that the ears may be damaged by cumulative usage.

There are no guarantees that most people will have a negative effect from using ibuprofen or other NSAID painkillers occasionally and as directed by their GP. Anyone concerned about whether their use of painkillers might be worsening their tinnitus would be advised to discuss this issue with their doctor.

[marigold60 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thanks for your reply. I have been using higher strength ibuprofen for a long time off and on for back pain. I've seen both audiologist and specialist and this has never come up before. Ive been observing when it's worse and what I'm doing differently and come to the conclusion that ibuprofen definitely has an adverse effect

[Happyrosie]

along with what Pat says, I shall put my oar in. ibuprofen certainly doesn’t affect my T in any way, other than that if I’m in pain the T is worse so ibuprofen can help, if this makes sense? Maybe have a chat with your pharmacist.

[marigold60 in reply to Happyrosie]

Thankyou, I guess we can all be affected and helped by different things

[Marlayna]

yes I notice a big difference. It does wear off, but I worry about long term damage so I try to avoid it.

[amelie123]

yes I have found that ibuprofen and naproxen make my tinnitus worse.

[Threeminuteboy]

Personally I have found that gp's and Ent's can't say what causes tinnitus and they have no idea of how to treat it . So they won't be able to say whether or not certain painkillers make it worse or not ,its more likely stress from the pain that you want to take painkillers for that is making the tinnitus seem louder . I had a lot of bad knee pain recently and it got in the way of work and kept me awake at night - my tinnitus was also worse than normal at the time . I took a mixture of paracetamol and nurofen , used ice etc , the knee pain went . My tinnitus is back to its normal pattern of good days 2-3 and then bad days 2-3 . I feel that the pain of the knee made me less able to ignore the T as it had a mentally draining effect and therefore the T felt louder .

[marigold60 in reply to Threeminuteboy]

I do get what you're saying but I feel it's the ibuprofen itself. I took it the other day as a precaution as I knew I was going to do something that would affect my back and before I'd even begun the tinnitus got louder. I wasn't stressed about it either

[Ana20]

Hi! The same happens to me after having taken Paracetamol,

Diclofenac doesn’t affect me so much.

Good health!

[Beagleears]

Hi I use Naproxen and high strength co- codamol when I have severe back pain these are prescription medications and I haven't noticed tinnitus being worse because of the medications. However as threeminuteboy pointed out with his knee problem stress can make tinnitus worse. If my back goes into spasm I find my tinnitus is worse but it's because I get very stressed about it back spasm is very painful I try my best to avoid it but unfortunately sometimes it happens take care.

[marigold60 in reply to Beagleears]

Thanks, I might see if I can get high strength co codemal on prescription

[Lefty51]

Instead of relying on painkillers, have you tried going to see an osteopath? You can find your nearest practitioner by googling the General Osteopathic Council - a session will probably cost about £50, but worth it for the pain relief. However, if you are looking for an alternative painkiller, try Syndol from your local pharmacist (contains paracetomol, codeine phosphate, doxylamine succinate and caffeine).