Tinnitus Began First Week of June 2020 After Wim Hof Breathing

I'm very happy I found this support forum. I'll introduce my story.

In anticipation of having to take public transportation into this city this summer (at the end of May we were being told to prepare to get back to the office by early July which thankfully hasn't happened because conditions are still very poor), I was looking for ways to increase my immune system and was intrigued by the Wim Hof method. Let me preface by saying my negative experience isn't a bashing of the WM method, I know for someone people it has very positive effects but for me, after the third day of doing the breathing exercise my blood pressure went up and I developed tinnitus.

After 2-3 days of rest and stopping the breathing exercises, my blood pressure went back to normal but the tinnitus remained. I poured myself into research and came across some very helpful online resources - some attributing tinnitus to an underlying problem occurring in the body vs being a "disease" in and of itself. I also read a theory that tinnitus in my case was activated by an overly active sympathetic nervous system response which could be aggravated by something (have read that Wim Hof does do this). That aside, I kept searching because what I was feeling, in addition to the high pitched tinnitus was a sensation that my ears were full and there was pressure in both ears. In fact, a few weeks ago my ears were killing me for 1 day as if there was an infection (my primary care physician ruled that out when she checked my ears and said they were clean). That only lasted for a day and got better.

To date, my PCP recommended me to an ENT whom I visited yesterday and they ran a battery of tests on me -- my hearing was actually above average, he also didn't see anything wrong in my nose or throat passages. So... he suggested what may have happened was when I held my breath as part of the Wim Hof exercise, that air pressure from the breath hold could have caused issues in my Eustachian tubes and swelled them, leading to inflammation.. which led to the ear ringing. Anyway, he's putting me a 20mg dose of Prednisone of first 5 days taking 2 tablets and 3 days taking 1 tablet, to see if that reduces the pressure in my ears and tinnitus.

I hope it helps! As for my story, if anyone else has developed tinnitus from Wim Hof I hope your condition improves and if I learn anything, I am happy to pass it on.

 

Hi Mr C.
I have experienced the exact same reaction/symptoms you describe after practicing WHM. I too am not bashing the breathing method, as I have actually seen very positive results particularly in improving energy levels and uplifting low mood/depression. The method was healing and becoming a part of my morning routine up until recently; when I experienced an immediate ringing in my ears after doing three rounds of the breathing and breath-holding exercises. I was quite alarmed by the buzzing and whirring I heard all inside my head, but went ahead with the second pillar, the cold shower, which actually felt great, and the ringing did subside that day. Unfortunately, it came back the next day and has been ongoing for almost five days now. I went to see a GP last night, and she noted it may be due to my teeth grinding, TMJ, and its' potentially hitting a nerve. She didn't prescribe anything except Tylenol for possible swelling in the nerve and advised me to massage my jaw. I am curious about your success with the Prednisone? Have you seen any improvements? Wishing you well and hoping this shrill squatter taking up unwanted residence in my ear/brain hits the road soon!

DY.

 

Mine got worse after one session, it lasted 2 days and went back to baseline, will never use that methode again.
I found after Searching the net it's quite common to get ringing ears.

 

My tinnitus started first week of June 2020 and i'm still battling it, though it has decreased. I have not tried Wim Hof since that day. How are you feeling now? Is it subsiding?

Yea, my reaction was as follows. This took place after the third and final set of breathing exercise on the third day:
1. My nasal passages became a bit clogged as if I had allergies
2. My ears became clogged (same feeling you get if you're in an airplane)
3. My ears and neck felt very warm, almost as if I was sunburned
4. A high pitched tinnitus began
5. I felt a bit dizzy
6. My blood pressure spiked

After about 2 days, my blood pressure returned to normal, my ears and neck stopped feeling warm, and the dizziness faded away. Things that remained were the "clogged" ears and tinnitus, which leads me to believe something happened to my Eustachian tubes. Perhaps when I pushed the air to my head and breathed out, there was an internal pressure imbalance that was created. I don't listen to loud music etc., so my tinnitus was not caused by damaged hair cells or cochlear damage. At least, I don't think that was the case. Other things which lead me to believe it's Eustachian tube related are my MRI and audiology tests came back totally normal after I visited my ENT back in July. And a few mornings around that time, I noticed my ears hurt as if I had an ear infection.. even though there was no fluid and they were fine upon examination. The ENT can't see the inner ear though and as I type this, I still feel as if my inner ears are a bit blocked... like that same sensation you feel from being up in an airplane.

Here's a list of things I've been doing that have been helping:
1. Craniosacral therapy. This helped a bit. You can find a Craniosacral therapist in your area.
2. ETD exercises. If you feel that your ears are blocked, along with the tinnitus, maybe check this out. Eustachian Tube Dysfunction ETD Exercises and Massage Techniques for Ear Fullness - YouTube . The chiropractor who developed the ETD exercises in this video, Dr. Adam Fields, runs a successful practice in California and I've even spoken with him on the phone. If I lived there, I'd probably visit his office, he's great. I've been doing these for the past 3 weeks and am starting to see positive results. Am doing it once a day, may go to twice a day soon. The ringing has gone down and I hear my ears crackling a bit when I do the ear pulls, which leads me to believe my Eustachian tubes are hopefully trying to open up.

Here's a book which I've found to be interesting so far:
1. Rock Steady: Healing Vertigo or Tinnitus with Neuroplasticity: Remenyi, Joey: 9781989603857: Amazon.com: Books

As for the Prednisone, my ENT put me on an 8 day cycle starting with 40mg for a few days before tapering off to 20mg a day, then 10mg a day. I tried taking one 20mg pill on the first day and noticed a significant decrease in the high-pitched ringing. The only problem was I found it to be very potent (it made me feel spaced out) and I was afraid to do 40mg a day. So my ENT had me break up the tablets in half and take 10mg in the morning and 10mg in the evening, so going for 20mg a day instead of 40mg.. this unfortunately didn't do much. So, I probably would have been better off just bearing through it and going for 40mg a day for the first few days. That said, in my opinion Prednisone is a temporary fix. I don't think it will solve the underlying problem causing the tinnitus but it does prove that the tinnitus in my case was inflammation related. Coupled with the blocked ears and ear pain, I think it's inflammation related anyway... If others have had a permanent fix with Prednisone that would be awesome to know. From my experience, it only temporarily stopped the tinnitus.

Well, I hope this helps. My journey is still ongoing. I'm not going to lose hope. Based on what I've read, tinnitus isn't a disease, but the body's way of saying "hey, there's something wrong!". I know it sucks to hear it 24-7, trust me... it sucks. But we can't lose hope. If anyone else has experienced chronic tinnitus (1+ months) from Wim Hof and recovered, I'd love to hear about it. Once I make a full recovery, I'll definitely share it with others.

 

Yes, I honestly wish I had researched Wim Hof before doing it. I know a lot of people get positive results from it but tinnitus is definitely a side effect and it seems to be swept under the carpet by a lot of veteran Wim Hofers. I've never heard Wim discuss it either. It would be nice if he did. It's basically up to people like us to figure it out on our own.

Being that not everyone gets the chronic tinnitus leads me to believe that Wim Hof aggravates underlying problems which are already present, which then cause the tinnitus. In my case, maybe I already had potential sinus issues which were aggravated by Wim Hof and then sent into a frenzy. But still, it'd be nice to know the chain of events and learn exactly how Wim Hof causes these issues so we can figure this out.

 

For those with clogged ears and tinnitus, this device seems interesting: Eustachi Eustachian Tube Exerciser - Unclog Your Ears Naturally : Target

I'm thinking of giving it a shot. If it works for me, i'll definitely post results.

 

After I read the Rock Steady book, I'll post my thoughts. I've seen some negative comments on the author in other threads so... we'll see. I'm a few chapters in and so far it's ok.

I would definitely recommend the ETD exercises though which I posted. They are working so far.

 

I feel like noticing or having these issues is is part of the process of the Wim Hof method. It seems that the method develops a better awareness of body and in turn means we come across those underlying issues that perhaps have been swept under the rug so to speak. For example, I have mild but chronic asthma to the extent that I only notice it once or twice a year. However, after doing a couple weeks of the breathing I realised I do have trouble taking in a full breath of air and knew this must be asthma-related. I got it checked at the doctors and we ended up discussing allergies, deep diving into the triggers for the asthma. I believe I would have just carried on not noticing that even mild asthma was having an effect on my breathing and who knows what other problems could result on top of that.
I too have the ear ringing after the breathing at times but feel that the breathing reveals underlying issues rather than being a cause of them. Like your bodies way of saying “ring ring hello look over here, you need to notice this”. I have often had trouble with blocked ears too since a child and I just carry on and eventually just forget it’s there. However, the breathing seems to point out potential areas to notice or get checked. If deep breathing is causing issues then that seems to show it’s revealing something and we should get it checked rather than stop the exercise. Perhaps shorter retention time etc or changing the breathing speed to a slower rate could help too.

 

While I understand and respect that viewpoint, I didn't have any issues with blocked ears or tinnitus prior to Wim Hof and it's been over 6 months now and I still have tinnitus from it, despite not doing the breathing exercises since that first week in June. I believe Wim Hof caused some type of pressure imbalance inside my sinuses-- I'm guessing it was from the 15 second breathe in towards the head-- and I believe it's that imbalance that's causing my tinnitus. Obviously many people benefit from Wim Hof but there are also others who get bad cases of tinnitus and it's largely left up to them to figure it out. So, this is an issue that does exist.

For me, since the ENT and audiologist couldn't find anything abnormal, my next step is to consult an ayurvedic physician, someone who understands pranayama breathing from a holistic point of view, and give that a shot.

 

Hello all!

My tinnitus started from the same reason as yours, the Wim Hof breathing method. I started the practice in the beginning of December 2020. I was looking for a relaxation technique and I thought I'll give try to this method. I was blown away by the extreme relaxation and also from the joyous feelings that arise both during and after the breathing sessions. It was what I was looking for a long time and honestly I was so excited to make it a part of my life. As Denaid wrote, it was healing. Mood, energy, sleep, all was boosted and I felt great! During the breathing I noticed ringing in my ears, but I think it went away as I carried on.

I don't know when exactly it started but on the 4th day, I had a weird experience. I might have overdone it as I was at the 8th round and after the last push to the head thing I started to feel alarmed. My hearth started to race and I've noticed my fingers were seized with cramp and my toes too. I couldn't move them. I was scared but at the same time felt clear headed. For a minute or two I gradually relaxed myself and my heartbeat slowed down and I could move my fingers and toes again. It was an intense experience which shook me but I did not loose my interest. I'm not sure but maybe this was the start of my tinnitus. After this experience I was more careful and only did 5 or 6 rounds, only to the point where I still felt it is not too much. I think the first time I realised I have a constant high pitched ringing in ears was on the 5th or 6th day. I'm a preschool teacher, so most of the time I'm surrounded with a noise, but during naptime when it was quite I've noticed it. From that moment I was constantly aware of this eeeee sound.

I knew it was not there before and it is not normal to have a loud screaming sound in my ears. I quickly figured out it must be because of the breathing exercise so I looked it up and found this thread. I was sad to see my suspicion to be true. So I stopped doing it to see if it will go away but it didn't...

I too have a feeling of fullness inside my ear so I stared doing the ETD exercises which you MrC posted. Also I visited a Doctor, but I knew she won't find anything. My hearing was great too, seemingly nothing in the ear and everything was alright. Doctor said it will go away, but I should take Ginkgo Biloba extract and a nasal spray. So for two weeks I used the spray, Ginkgo Biloba and ETD exercise. I had trouble with my sinuses before and I noticed the ETD exercise makes mucus drain. Maybe it was related to the cause, although I had no problem with it lately...

Anyway I think it helped a bit. There were days when I barely heard it and started to get optimistic but then next day it was back and loud. For a week I was very depressed and angry about it, but then I realised it is no use, maybe even makes it worse. I also found an eardrop names Otipax which is for middle ear infection and harm caused by air pressure. I thought it might be worth to try it. So I did that too for two weeks and I noticed improvement. There were days again when I barely noticed the tinnitus.

Then I made a big stupid mistake. Since I was missing the feeling of how I have been when I practiced Wim Hof, I thought I will try it but without the head pushing thing. So I did it, and instead of pushing I only took a big breath into my chest and held it. No pressure no feelings of exploding head, but less bliss too. Still I noticed weird sensations in my ears a slight pain, so I immediately stopped doing it. The noise got worse, not super worse but it wasn't like before. I know it was a very stupid thing to try it again, but it seems I'm that stupid.

This was a week ago. No more Wim Hof breathing for me...

So the symptoms I have are:
- high pitched eeeeee ringing in ears, not always on the same level, sometimes for seconds it jumps up and down
- clogged, fullness feeling in the ears, mostly in the left, but sometime in the right one too

Things I tried:
- Ginkgo Biloba, Zinc, Iron, Magnesium (don't know if they help any at all)
- nasal spray and eardrops (I guess they made it better in short term)
- ETD and other tinnitus relief exercises (interestingly if I put my palms on my ears and start to massage it in a circular way, then the noise drops to almost zero for about 10 seconds... what's up with that I wonder?.. )
- focusing on the sound like a meditation (ironically it helps to lessen the annoyance of it)

Luckily it does not affect my sleep yet, but the thought of not hearing complete silence again makes me sad. I didn't give up on fixing it somehow, but even if I can't I still want to know what exactly happened with my ears. Just so I can move on, accept and try to habituate it.

Sorry for the long post, but I had to get it off... If you have any insights or leads, please let me know. Maybe we can figure it out.

 

I'm very sorry to hear your story. It sounds almost identical to mine, only difference was mine only took 3 days for the tinnitus to begin. I'm not going to quit until I find out what caused it either, I'm determined to get to the bottom of it. I've tried going to an ENT, audiologist, and general practitioner to no avail. I'm going to speak to an ayurvedic medicine practitioner next. On that note, what I've found out so far through my own research is that there are three types of breath holds in the Yoga Pranayama practice, which Wim Hof seems to be based on:
1. Antara Kumbhaka (breath hold after inhalation)
2. Bahya Kumbhaka (breath hold after exhalation)
3. Kevala Kumbhaka (stopping the breath completely)

So we basically did a series of #1, then #2 and back to #1? I'm going to ask this person what could cause tinnitus by using these breath holds, and then try to find out how to fix the issue. Because we're both feeling that pressure in our head (akin to not being able to pop your ears), I'm inclined to believe that the Wim Hof caused an inner ear problem, which is causing the tinnitus. Tinnitus by itself is not a disease or dysfunction, but rather an internal "alarm bell" that is sounding because something is wrong. In our case, it could be sounding because there's an inner ear issue.

Like yourself, I also hear the damn "eeeeee" constantly. Going through this garbage definitely makes you empathetic to other tinnitus sufferers, so I want to do what I can to help others as part of my journey. Hang in there man and don't lose hope or get down on yourself. What's done is done. Now the journey to find out why this happened and fix it is in front of us so we need to stay positive. I will definitely share anything I come across that proves to be helpful.

Regarding the draining using the ETD exercises, that will happen because those exercises cause the Eustachian tubes to drain. So if you have discomfort using them, just be aware that's what's going on. If you don't do the ETD exercises, the draining will stop and you won't feel the mucous going down the back of your throat. I actually spoke with that chiropractor from California who developed the ETD exercise, Dr. Adam Fields over Zoom and he's an extremely nice guy and quite knowledgeable.

In my opinion, this is a known issue and something that needs to be figured out. It sucks that it's sort of ignored and swept under the carpet. I know for me, that's what pissed me off in the beginning. I had reached out to Wim Hof veterans and was basically blown off, like it was blasphemous to connect tinnitus with the breathing method. Whatever...

Regarding the Eustachi device I mentioned, I tried using it last week. It got my Eustachian tubes opened for sure, so much that it felt like I was breathing in cold air all the time which I didn't care for because it dried out my throat a bit. But I'll probably give it another shot if it can help pop my ears. We'll see.

For this week, I bought 120mg capsules of Ginkgo Biloba. What dosage did you take? I'm curious how much I should take every day. Did you have any side effects from taking it? Also, what was the nasal spray that you'd taken?

I'm also giving this exercise a shot. It's apparently used by many practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine:

Ringing In The Ears?! TINNITUS! Easy Fast...

OK... thanks for contributing to this post. I'll keep it going with any new findings. I'm really curious to see what this Ayurvedic doctor has to say.

 

Well then it seems both took up the same quest! There are many leads and there must be an explanation for what happened. I would really be proud to discover it and maybe help others getting rid of this!

But you know, I wonder why this happened to us? Millions are practicing the Wim Hof breathing and they are fine. So how come a small number of us gets tinnitus which does not go away?

I'm curious what you'll find out. My number one suspect is also the hold breath, push in the head part. That definitely did cause pressure in the head. Also some enjoyable feelings alongside with the I'm going to faint feeling to. It must have been because after the breathless period we lack oxygen and then with squeezing it into the head we finally get a rush of it. After releasing the breath, I often felt dizzy and my hearth started to race. The doctor I spoke with agrees about the inner ear pressure imbalance, but told me the tinnitus will go away. Well it didn't...
But I came across an interesting topic in a scuba diver forum, here he's blaming the prolonged period of holding breath as too much time without oxygen can damage the hair cells in the inner ear. If he is right then I'm afraid there is not much to do about it, since as far as I know those won't repair. But I don't think this is the cause, because in the in and out exhalation period we take in a lot of oxygen into the cells and during the breathless period I never pushed it to my limits where I would feel extreme need of air... And then tested my hearing and it was pretty good...

And you mentioned the internal alarm bell. So the Wim Hof method puts the body and brain under hormonal stress. So maybe it triggered this alarm and now it won't turn off? In some forum a guy said he had the same ringing in the ear but he went on with the practice and after a few weeks it disappeared... I got the idea that he wants to suggest that the brain has to realise or get used to this hormonal stress and then will switch off the alarm bell. But I think it is too dangerous to try it, because maybe it can become worse than this...

His video has got a really good vibe! What was his take on the on the case?
I still do it, but not every part of the exercises. Try the ear massage with your palm on the whole ear and the circular motion. This makes the tinnitus go away for a little while and sometimes it comes back a bit less loud. Also what I found to be working is if I move my jaw forward and then to one side instead of going from side to side. I just leave it in that position and pull the ear out. I can feel it open up and this seems to help the tinnitus lessen.

By the way, do your ears crackle when you swallow? Because mine do and quite loud.

I'm taking 2x 120mg of Ginkgo Biloba, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon. I looked up and they say 120 mg is the common dose but 240 mg is also used. The doctor suggested a really expensive one called Tebofortan, but I took a lot cheaper one which had the same ingredients and dose of Ginkgo extract. I've been taking it for 2 weeks now and it definitely works in improving the circulation... my girlfriend is not complaining if you know what I mean... But I'm not sure if it makes any difference regarding tinnitus. Some say you need to buy the expensive one because they are much more pure and have better adjusted Ginkgo flavonoids and terpenes. I'm thinking of giving it a try after I finish with this bottle. And the nasal spray was Nasavin. It helped the draining a lot and was easy to breathe, but it is suggested to use only for two weeks.

So did you feel any difference after you popped your ears with the Eustachi device?

 

Hey people,

I was googling about tinnitus and the Wim Hof Method as I got mine from it. I'm glad I found some people having the same issue. I was doing the Wim Hof method for a couple of month without any issues. To deepen my knowledge I was watching more videos about the WHM. In the comment sector of one video I found a comment that the "WHM is bullshit and can cause tinnitus". The next time I practiced the WHM I got a tinnitus.

Because of the fact that I first heard that it's possible to cause a tinnitus and just after that it happened, I thought that it must be a psychological issue. What do you guys think about that.

Since then I'm struggling to get rid of it. I consulted different doctors and still do it without any success yet, but I keep a positive attitude.

I'm a huge fan of yoga, so I practice yoga, breathwork and meditation on a daily basis, but none of these couldn't help me yet with the tinnitus.

I've also been diving deep into lucid dreaming because I heard that it's possible to cure diseases or talk to your subconscious mind in a direct way.

I noticed that I also hear the tinnitus while I'm lucid in my dreams. Has anyone of you paid attention to that?

I'm looking forward hearing from you.

 

Welcome to the club!

It is interesting to see more and more people having the same issue, but in your case what is more interesting is that you got yours after months of doing it. Most of us got it very shortly after we began doing Wim Hof breathing, so it is strange... and especially after you've read about it for the first time.

I'm a bit involved with spirituality so I had the idea that maybe the breathing got me deep and triggered some blockage. I had random memories and situations I was dealing with coming up during the sessions. Nothing serious but I felt this sessions are connecting me with my inner self. So when I first heard the ringing in my head I had thought it is maybe a sign of me resonating in a higher frequency. But it was just an idea and I didn't believe in it. What I'm more inclined to believe is that it might have triggered something in my brain and this is a signal. But if it would be only some psychological issue, then I believe it should quite down or maybe disappear when I'm in a very relaxed state. But I haven't experienced this so far.

I rarely have lucid dreams and even when I have I lose lucidity quite fast, but I do dream a lot and tinnitus appeared in my dreams once. Something stressful or scary happened in my dream and a dream character started to scream. I woke up and I heard the usual "eeeeeee" sound. Any time I wake up in the middle of the night, it is there. It is really nonstop... But I didn't notice the tinnitus in other dreams. Yet...

It would be really interesting if you could get lucid enough in your dreams to ask the tinnitus why is it there or how to make it go away. I heard you can do this so please give it a try and share us what you'll find out!

Btw meditation! I've read somewhere about a guy who made his tinnitus go away or more like reduce it to zero with meditation. Tinnitus was making his meditation impossible so he decided to make the ringing as the point of his focus. So he was solely focusing on the ringing and what he noticed is that it was hard to keep his attention on it and his mind wandered off. At these times he couldn't hear it. So after doing this for some time he noticed the tinnitus got less loud and slowly he was able to habituate himself and make it go away.
I'm also do this sometimes but haven't noticed much change other than that I'm not frustrated by it so much.

I wonder... Do you still do the Wim Hof breathing? If yes, then do you think it makes it worse? And what about the feeling of fullness in the ears, do you have it too?

 

Lol, I guess that's one of the good benefits I can expect from Ginkgo Biloba once I experiment with it. I ordered the liquid form this past week. Once I receive it I'll let you know if it's helped. My appointment with the Ayurvedic doctor is on Monday. I will definitely post any insight to this forum after my discussion with him.

Regarding the Eustachi device, it definitely cleared out my Eustachian tubes but it didn't seem to do much for unblocking my ear. However, I only did it once and I know it could take several tries so I would not discount this device. The only reason I'm temporarily laying off it is because it opened up my tubes maybe a bit too well. It was almost as if every breath I took, whether through my nasal passages or throat, was ice cold for a few days and I didn't care for the feeling; I'm assuming this was due to the fact that the tubes were completely opened. I'll most likely give it another shot and see how I feel. Anyway, it's certainly not a gimmick and it does what it's intended to do!

Ok, one thing I need to report... last Wednesday I was doing situps with my legs in the air and all of a sudden I felt very dizzy, as if the floor was spinning towards the ceiling. That's never happened to me before... ever. It left me feeling a bit off balance for a few days. I'm very active and consider myself in very good shape, so it's not like I'm out of shape and trying situps for the first time. This week, I gave situps a rest for a few days and tried doing pushups, and bang, started getting dizzy. I can't tell you how frustrating it is because situps and pushups are a staple to my daily routine. I think it's related to the same issue that's causing the tinnitus. Something to do with the inner ear. I'm going to speak to the Ayurvedic doctor (and probably my general practitioner) about it. I hope you guys don't get that symptom. It really sucks. Anyway, hopefully it will go away with rest and time. I check my blood pressure often and it's normal.

I'll keep reporting any news...

How's your progress been lately?

 

Welcome to the post man! I'm sorry to hear about your tinnitus. We're all very supportive here though, so whatever progress any of us can make, we'll share it with the group. Yea, I have heard theories that the tinnitus is mental, and perhaps it is. Maybe when you do the breath hold your body/mind is freaking out from lack of air and that shock to your system causes the tinnitus? But what then causes the ear pressure, inner ear imbalance etc? For me, my ears won't pop. So, I don't know if the Wim Hof Method caused a pressure imbalance in my inner ear... which led to the tinnitus. I'm inclined to believe that the tinnitus is our body's alarm system saying basically, "hey, there's something wrong!" over and over until we discover what's wrong and fix it. Tinnitus is not the disease, but an indicator of an issue. At least, that's what I've read and what resonates with me. We'll see...

As I've mentioned in my other post, I'm going to speak to an Ayurvedic doctor next week, who specializes in yogic breathing and he definitely understands the breathing methods that Wim Hof Method copies. So, if there's anyone who could possibly shed light on this, I'm hoping it's him. I've tried ENT's and audiologists and all they can do is check your hearing, take an MRI, and prescribe steroids. And 9 times out of 10, our readings are normal. What's needed here is a physician that can help understand what could have gone wrong, and help get to the root of it.

Lucid dreaming? I haven't tried that. Thankfully, when I'm asleep that's the only time I don't hear the damn ringing!

I'm a big proponent of meditation though. Other methods worth investigating may be Reiki or Qigong?

 

In answer to your first question, yes Dr. Fields was familiar with the Wim Hof method because he said he's done it quite regularly and never had a problem. Go figure. He thought the tinnitus could have been spurred on by musculoskeletal issues (i.e. poor posture, spinal issues, inner ear pressure imbalance). I will probably speak to him again about it and post any insight here.

For your second question, when I swallow my ears do crackle come to think of it, it's almost as if they're trying to open but can't. Is that what you experience?

 

Been fascinating reading this thread. I started the breathing method in the last few weeks, but not intensively - normally 3-4 rounds and not pushing it up to my head on the recovery breath. Same experience as pretty much everyone here with the tinnitus in terms of how quickly it has come about. I initially noticed it after the first few times (I've only been practising it for a few weeks and not every day). I think I've noticed a foundation of the tinnitus in the retention breath (out breath) but then the pressure build-up significantly in the recovery breath (in breath and hold). I don't exert any part of the retention or recovery breath, and I too am noticing all the benefits described. Then there is the tinnitus...

I've had tinnitus in the background for many years, mostly due to my misspent youth standing next to big speakers at raves/gigs. I'm fine with it fortunately, but this is clearly more intense and noticeable, and clearly a hang-up of the method. I'm going to continue for now (although I know it possibly sounds daft) as I've been having cold showers for a couple of years and am bought into the method somewhat. I'm curious about the longevity of the tinnitus and to understand the impact over time. Being winter, I've had some sinus problems too but nothing too bad. To me the tinnitus is a direct result of the breathing and being conscious of that now, I aim to regulate what I do potentially to see if it has an impact (e.g. ensure that I don't do it with too much intensity). If it seems to have more of a detrimental impact, I'll have to stop in spite of the benefits its having on my stress levels etc.

 

Please be careful with it. I'd say for certain that the tinnitus which people experience definitely comes from either the forced exhale breath hold or the follow-up 15 second breath hold. My ears have been clogged now for several months and my ears won't pop, and I deal with a high pitched "eeeeee" sound. I'm assuming my tinnitus is being caused by some inner ear imbalance due to the pressure differences caused by Wim Hof Method. I'm hoping that there's a way to fix that inner ear imbalance, which hopefully will stop the tinnitus.

It sucks that there is no talk on this from Wim Hof himself. Many people are getting afflicted with tinnitus as a result of practicing his breathing techniques and to avoid the issue or not address it is negligent in my opinion.

 

Fascinating thread! I have been practicing Wim Hof Method for a long time without any issues. Then I stopped with the breathing exercises for a few days for the first time in about 18 months and that's when the tinnitus started. I'm not sure it's connected, honestly. Taking cold showers actually relieves the symptoms, but they come back after a few hours.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the dizziness you have experienced. I hope it passed and does not restrain you from doing your daily routine. I know how much frustration it can cause when we are blocked from doing what is good for us... Maybe Ginkgo will help that too!

Not much progress I'm afraid. I mean... I started to do the ETD exercises more often and found a spot behind the ear. It is where that boney part is located and if I push the soft part behind it then I feel a massive draining. I feel it helps with the ear fullness. So I was doing this and the ear pulling jaw dropping and I think the left ear has popped. I felt what you have described. Upon inhalation I felt cold air inside there where I think the tube is. I don't know if it is possible but I felt like I breath through my ears... Anyway, the mentioned crackling has stopped in the left ear, so I was happy!

This was yesterday evening and today morning I woke up with pain in my left ear... I think it's inflamed, but I just can't understand why this happened! Crackling, pain and the ringing... So there's my progress... I have to visit a doctor again, but this time I will insist on getting some strong anti-inflammatory medicine.

But on the other hand, I've been researching about hypoxia's effect on the Eustachian Tube and found this and this.

So oxygen deficiency, what our body experiences several times during the Wim Hof Method breathing sessions does affect its function.

In the second study they stated this:

"Disturbances in the cochlear blood supply may result in membrane changes, perineural edema, inflammation, disturbances in ion homeostasis and in the formation of reactive oxygen species."

So this is interesting and I think it explains why we feel the fullness in our ears. But maybe it is not in the middle ear but the inner ear and that is why it is not going away. I've read all kinds of stuff about why we feel the ear fullness and I just hope it is not the beginning of Meniere's Disease...

I hope your meeting with the Ayurvedic doctor tomorrow will give some insight! I wish you all the best!

 

Anything disturbing cochlear blood supply in theory should hit your lowest frequencies first (they are most vulnerable as they are fed with the smallest capillaries). High frequencies whilst more metabolic get plenty of oxygen, so that damage is usually metabolic (ROS).

Similar thing happens with Meniere's or AIED, so it makes it fun to figure out.

My ENT said there's no way I had Meniere's but didn't totally discount cochlear hydrops, just said it's pretty rare still (though my audiogram has been showing fluctuating low frequency loss of from 5 dB to 15 dB depending on how bad the tinnitus is). I've noticed instead of both ears the issue has pretty much been confined to just my worse "right" ear now for low frequency humming/buzzing tinnitus.

 

Hi Everybody,

Seems like I'm in the same boat... starting to notice some slight tinnitus Thursday or Friday evening last week. It's pretty mild and only really noticeable when complete silence but just last night I was awake all night and not sure if that's the reason why. I have slight pressure in both ears but its not painful, just barely uncomfortable and most times not noticeable.

I started Wim Hof Method on Wednesday or Thursday last week. The hypoxic breath holds are guaranteed what's causing these problems. As @Csani90 has referenced, this is a known phenomenon in the free diving world. If you search Meniere's Disease and Hypoxia, you will find some articles that clearly relate the two. I think we may have incidentally given ourselves Meniere's Disease by inducing a state of hypoxia which has damaged the inner ear.

With that being said, I also read that sudden onset hearing loss and possibly tinnitus (from many causes) may be reversed and/or reduced if treated with Prednisone within the first two weeks of onset. I don't know if we'll ever recover but OP is going on 6 months with no resolution. This is very depressing especially considering the recent diagnosis of some other health issues.

BTW, is anyone else on Symbicort or a similar inhaler while this happened to them?

All the best,
L

 

The dangers with certain techniques of the Wim Hof method for those previously inactive to proper breathing.

Reperfusion injury, sometimes called ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) or reoxygenation injury, is tissue damage caused when blood supply returns to tissue (re- + perfusion) after a period of ischemia or lack of oxygen (anoxia or hypoxia). The absence of oxygen and nutrients from blood during the ischemic period creates a condition in which the restoration of circulation results in inflammation and oxidative damage through the induction of oxidative stress rather than (or along with) restoration of normal function. Reactive oxygen species, but with less nitric oxide following reperfusion causes an inflammatory response to the inner ears.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16757123/

 

Thanks for your reply Greg.

Reading the article, it seems like this is the most serious type of damage and might also lead to long term hearing loss. Very scary.

Does anyone know the outlook of this and if a single incident can be reversed or recover?

BTW, any idea if prednisone would work if caught early?

 

I was on 40mg a day of Prednisone after I got the tinnitus, two 20mg tablets a day tapering off at the end of 8 days. I didn't like the side effect of Prednisone at 20mg per pill (I felt very anxious and like my heart was racing slightly), so my ENT cut it down to 20mg a day, two 10mg doses. But at 10mg per dose, I didn't feel much benefit. I think the single doses of 20mg are what you need. I would say speak to your ENT and see what they think is best for you.

I know when I took the first 20mg pill, I did notice a reduction in the high pitched ear ringing.

 

We're hoping this can be reversed. When I had my tinnitus back in June, my ENT checked me out and said he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. My audiologist also ran a series of tests and my hearing was actually better than normal (thus eliminating sudden hearing loss). An MRI also came back as showing everything looked normal.

Anyway, I hope this isn't permanent. I had a discussion with an Ayurvedic physician tonight and his explanation seemed to make a lot of sense. I explained the Wim Hof breathing to him step-by-step and he said it sounds like I'd given myself tinnitus as a result of self-induced trauma to the nervous system, especially holding the breath after exhaling. I forgot the name he gave for the type of injury, because it was a word from Sanskrit, but he said it sounds like the nervous system has put been in a state of "PTSD" and that it needs to be brought out of it. He thinks it can be treated. He was shocked that someone was instructing other people to breathe this way but it is what it is at this point...

The physician said he's helped others recover from tinnitus so I'm praying I can make a full recovery. The treatment will be unlike those used in Western medicine but at this point, it can't hurt to try. Going to be be on this plan for about 60 days. Sounds like it's going to be a combination of changes in lifestyle, Indian herbs, yogic techniques etc. If it works guys I will tell you all about it for sure.

I had the meeting tonight and he said it sounds like the tinnitus was brought on by trauma (most definitely the holding of the breath after full exhale). I forgot the name he gave it, it was in Hindi, but he made it sound like the trauma put the nervous system into a state of hyper reactive stress and we need to treat it step-by-step until the cause that's creating the tinnitus is healed. The treatment will be based on Ayurvedic medicine using Indian medicines, herbs, diet, yogic practices, and changes in lifestyle. We'll see if this works. I'm praying it does. He said to lay off the Eustachi device for now until we get through the treatments; which will last about 60 days.

As an aside, has anyone visited a neurologist? All of this talk in these posts about induced Meniere's disease is scaring me. None of us seem to have sudden hearing loss but we do have pressure in our ears.

I found this one paragraph in an article. Let me know your thoughts on it.

"The symptoms and signs of Meniere attacks (MAs) are well known. During spells the affected ear has an acute, widespread but incomplete loss of function. There is aural fullness and a roaring tinnitus in the ear that corresponds to an acute hearing loss, usually in the low frequencies. There is profound vertigo with vomiting that is associated with a decrease in caloric responsiveness in the affected ear, and a horizontal-rotatory nystagmus is visible. This continues for 20 min to several hours, with a complete resolution of symptoms as the attack ends. Attacks recur repeatedly. Although each attack appears to be reversible, over time the affected ear gradually loses hearing and balance function. The ear will usually “burn out” with cessation of vertigo spells when the hearing loss becomes severe, but often some residual hearing is still detectable. In addition to the classic MA, Meniere's patients experience other forms of dizziness due to this progressive damage, such as benign positional vertigo and the dizziness prior to compensation for permanent vestibular loss."​

That right there doesn't sound like the symptoms we're experiencing, does it? -

The Meniere attack: An ischemia/reperfusion disorder of inner ear sensory tissues

Here's some info on contacting a doctor:

How to Find Your Meniere's Disease Doctor

 

Hyperventilation produces a change in the proportions of blood gases with an increase in the oxygen level and a decrease in Carbon dioxide.

This method is responsible for the change in blood pH.

Generally used in diving apnea, hyperventilation is used to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the blood without increasing the level of oxygen in the blood.

This practice can be hazardous because the body’s alarm mechanism is distorted, which causes a drop in blood flow to the brain.

Hyperventilation is characterized by an increase in respiratory rate and an increase in breathing movements.

A blood pH test is a normal part of a blood gas test. This test is also known as an arterial blood gas (ABG) test. It measures how much oxygen and carbon dioxide is in your blood.

A basic first test - self test or it be done in a doctor's exam room. How to Test your Body's pH Level at Home - 5 steps (onehowto.com)

You can research more on pH Levels and what to do for adjustment. If one is suspicious of the Wim Hof Method causing tinnitus or other mentions above, then pH levels may still be off. Rebalance should make a big difference.

 

I don’t think so but the fullness in the ears is what concerns me (on top of the tinnitus).

I am hoping to see an ENT tomorrow, though I don’t know how much they could possibly do at this point.

I hope this is the case and that it can be resolved; however, it seems more likely that the hypoxia caused some damage. I’m just in shock how a breathing exercise put us in this predicament.

 

CO2 concentration will cause vasoconstriction or vasodilation depending on the tissue, and also acidifies the blood making hemoglobin change shape and "let go" of oxygen more.

Lowering it undoubtedly would cause vasoconstriction in smaller arterioles as well as no change in oxygenation to tissues.

Cold also constricts smaller vessels severely so you stay conscious, like in your inner ear or fingers when subjected to hypothermia.

So no, you haven't "upset your ionic balance" in your inner ear, you don't have Meniere's. It doesn't fit anything.

You literally caused from synergistic cold and hyperventilation rather impressive vasospasm, abnormally strong binding of O2 to blood (not to where it needs to go, the tissues), and slowing reactions with colder blood / the cell needs to keep up to survive (ATP production) ultimately would kill off highly metabolic aerobic cells (aka the 10k+ hair cells). So, you have high pitched ringing now. Yes it can be somewhat reversed with time.

It's why if you get hypothermia or pass out you may feel ringing in your ears during the episode until you warm up so it's "temporarily" because you didn't do massive damage... but there's only so many cycles of that nerve cells can take, especially ones that are barely fed enough and are highly metabolically active.

Lower frequencies though more vulnerable to vasospasm don't seem to use as much O2 (so I'd guess it takes longer to kill those off if conditions are kept the same).
Our bodies detect CO2, NOT Oxygenation, is part of the reason why hyperbaric oxygen is rarely helpful (basically only in stroke or necrosis when there's no other way to "get oxygen" there, those blood vessels in your ear didn't die off by noise or meds) and can be toxic as our bodies won't regulate too much of a good thing if it comes to that (seizures / oxidation of membranes).

There are benefits to cold, and starving some tissues of some O2 might be beneficial, but you're going to kill cells along the way.