Why Do I Have Tinnitus? The Causes, Explained

Certain foods and drugs may also increase the likelihood or the intensity at which you experience tinnitus. “Any sort of stimulant — alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, all of those things — can lead to an increase in tinnitus,” Frank says. She says she’ll often hear from patients that they went out drinking and experienced tinnitus really intensely for a few hours that night and that it wore off over time.

Many people with tinnitus have been told to avoid salt, caffeine, and alcohol because these are believed to possibly exacerbate the tinnitus, Zitelli says. She says she’s heard this anecdotally from patients, but research is tough to conduct since there’s no objective way to measure exactly what a person with tinnitus is hearing — or to confirm that tinnitus has gotten better or worse.