Why Is a Low-Sodium Diet Recommended for Tinnitus? What's the Actual Evidence?

[WickedCarnival]

Why is a low-sodium diet recommended for tinnitus management? While going through research and articles discussing the controversies around this recommendation, it seems there is no clear direct link between sodium intake and blood pressure or other issues that were once commonly associated with high sodium. So why is it still being recommended?

 

[Scruffiey]

Same reason all the other stuff is repeated... it probably worked for a subset of people, possibly due to the Meniere's cohort, and since there is nothing else available, it keeps getting parroted. That is the same reason tinnitus is still broadly tied to anxiety and stress, even though that only applies to some people, and why masking is still promoted, even though it does not work for a lot of us.

In fact, I went through what was possibly one of the most stressful experiences imaginable a few weeks ago, and two things happened. First, that stress did not impact my tinnitus at all. Second, since then, I have been eating terribly, not exercising, skipping all my usual supplements, eating loads of takeaway food, and drinking coffee and beer, and it has not made the slightest bit of difference to my tinnitus. In fact, I have probably had some of my better days.

What does seem to make a difference for me? Aside from how much sleep I get, it appears to be the weather. So realistically, it comes down to air pressure, something I have absolutely no control over. Fun.

The bottom line is that you have to figure out what works for you, what your specific triggers are, and what your exact pathology might be, because this is still a poorly understood condition.

 

[Strife_84]

it appears to be the weather. So realistically, it comes down to air pressure, something I have absolutely no control over. Fun.

I have also noticed that on rainy days, my tinnitus and my ears in general feel worse. It is really annoying. So it definitely seems to have something to do with air pressure. We can only hope there will be some major breakthroughs in the next five to ten years. Because I swear, the feeling inside my ear is not my imagination.

What I hate about this condition is that even ENT doctors look at me like I am a crazy person when I try to describe it. I tell them, "It feels like something is swollen inside my ear, like a rubber ball. It feels like a sharp knife or a laser is burning my eardrum."

Then they just stare at you like:

And say something like, "That is not possible. It is just your brain acting up."

No. It is not.

It feels like I am living in the time before modern medicine. Back then, before they understood the cause of peptic ulcers, doctors would say it was caused by stress and repressed emotions.

Actually, mold symptoms are still often treated in the same way. "Oh, well, I do not get sick from mold, so maybe you are just depressed or stressed?"

A bit off topic, but I had to say it.

 

[Scruffiey]

I have also noticed that on rainy days, my tinnitus and my ears in general feel worse. It is really annoying. So it definitely seems to have something to do with air pressure. We can only hope there will be some major breakthroughs in the next five to ten years. Because I swear, the feeling inside my ear is not my imagination.

What I hate about this condition is that even ENT doctors look at me like I am a crazy person when I try to describe it. I tell them, "It feels like something is swollen inside my ear, like a rubber ball. It feels like a sharp knife or a laser is burning my eardrum."

Then they just stare at you like:

And say something like, "That is not possible. It is just your brain acting up."

No. It is not.

It feels like I am living in the time before modern medicine. Back then, before they understood the cause of peptic ulcers, doctors would say it was caused by stress and repressed emotions.

Actually, mold symptoms are still often treated in the same way. "Oh, well, I do not get sick from mold, so maybe you are just depressed or stressed?"

A bit off topic, but I had to say it.

"Annoying" is one word for it…

It is actually quite funny — I just got back from a hospital appointment and had the exact same experience. They told me it was my Eustachian tubes, and I tried to explain that it definitely was not.

They tested my tubes right then and there and said there was no fluid. I explained that I could feel pressure building up and fluid leaking, and they responded that my Eustachian tubes were not opening. I said, "But you just tested them and told me they are open!"

I think I will go back to my first ENT in the future. At least he was honest about the fact that what I was experiencing was real, even if they simply did not know enough to explain it.

I asked about clinical trials on the off chance he might have heard of anything, and he had not even heard of Rinri — a university trial in the UK. He looked at me like I was talking about some backstreet clinic offering magical stem cell treatments.

I also got the classic lines: "I promise an MRI will not make things worse," and "Wearing those earplugs too much is going to give you hyperacusis." Honestly, I wanted to shove the endoscope into their urethra.