Exposing common myths about tinnitus

This Tinnitus Week (3-9 February 2025), RNID’s audiology manager, Franki Oliver, exposes the most common myths and misconceptions around tinnitus, and the role nurses can play if they meet someone with the condition in their care. RNID is the national charity supporting people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. The charity wants people with tinnitus to get the right information and help to manage it.

Tinnitus is the name for hearing sounds that are not caused by an outside source. You may know someone with tinnitus, or you may have tinnitus yourself. As a nurse you’ve almost certainly interacted with a patient experiencing it. Around 1 in 7 adults have tinnitus – that’s over 7 million people in the UK.

Tinnitus may be common, but people can struggle to access accurate information and timely professional support. We now know more about tinnitus than ever, but unhelpful misconceptions about the condition are still widespread. This means that people might not be getting the help they need, when they need it.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With the right information and support, many people can effectively manage their tinnitus. Here, we will dispel the common myths about the condition and share some simple ways you can support your patients with tinnitus, so they can get the help they need.

Myth 1: We can’t do anything about tinnitus, we’ve just got to live with it

This is probably the most harmful tinnitus myth out there. As well as being false, evidence shows that statements like these can have a lasting negative effect on someone’s overall outcomes and ability to manage their tinnitus.

It is essential that people are given supportive and helpful information, especially if it’s the first time they speak to a healthcare professional about tinnitus.

There is a range of management options for tinnitus. Many people find effective ways to manage tinnitus at home, but they can also access care from a healthcare professional. Options include hearing aids, targeted tinnitus therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Some people find self-management methods helpful, such as relaxation, mindfulness, sound enrichment and breathing exercises.

Myth 2: Tinnitus only sounds like ringing in the ears

Although commonly described as ‘ringing in the ears’, tinnitus sounds different for everyone. As well as ringing, people describe sounds such as buzzing, whooshing, clicking, humming, hissing, or even a combination of sounds. It can also sound like it’s pulsing, as if it’s in time to a heartbeat and it can come and go or be there constantly. Some people find they can hear their tinnitus louder in one ear while others hear it equally in both.

There’s no right or wrong way to experience tinnitus, and everyone’s individual experience is different.

Myth 3: Tinnitus is ‘all in the head’

While most people experience tinnitus as a subjective symptom, it is real. It can have a number of different causes, including loud noise exposure or a head injury, and can be brought on because of medication or certain medical conditions. Sometimes there is no clear cause for someone’s tinnitus.

We don’t always know what causes tinnitus, but there is a common association with hearing loss.

It’s thought that a temporary or permanent change to the hearing system can reduce the number of electrical signals passed along the auditory nerve to the brain. In turn, the brain is not expecting this reduction in activity and starts to fill in the gaps, creating what is perceived as the tinnitus sound.
However, this doesn’t tell the whole story, as we know that many people with tinnitus do not have hearing loss.

Myth 4: Tinnitus causes hearing loss

This is not true. Some people may also incorrectly say that having tinnitus is always the first sign of losing hearing. While tinnitus is more common in people with hearing loss, it does not cause it.

A common cause of both tinnitus and hearing loss is loud noise exposure. The good news is that everyone can prevent damage to their ears from loud noise, and it is never too late to start protecting our hearing.

RNID’s top tips for protecting hearing are to: turn the volume down; take regular breaks from noise; and wear hearing protection in loud environments. Find out more here.

Myth 5: Hearing aids will make tinnitus louder

Hearing aids can be extremely helpful for people with hearing loss and tinnitus. This is because the amplified sound can help distract someone from the sound of their tinnitus. Many people find their tinnitus gets much quieter or even disappears when they wear hearing aids.

However, hearing aids aren’t appropriate for everyone with tinnitus. If someone doesn’t have hearing loss, they may find listening to pleasant or distracting sounds helpful, including white noise, relaxing music or perhaps background noise from an open window.

You may now be thinking: ‘This is useful information but how can I actually help someone with the condition’?

The truth is, we all have a role to play if someone wants to talk to us about tinnitus, especially as healthcare professionals.
Evidence shows that statements like those in Myth 1, or even a lack of information about tinnitus can have a negative influence on people’s overall outcomes. The absence of information can make people frightened or anxious as they’re left to fill in the blanks themselves. It’s vital that all healthcare professionals know how to talk about the condition, and how to support their patients get the help they need.

The NICE guideline Tinnitus: assessment and management (NG155), highlights this very point and advises healthcare professionals to reassure people and give them information about tinnitus. Practically speaking, this could be as simple as telling people that tinnitus is not usually a sign of a serious medical condition, that there are lots of things that can help tinnitus and people could see their GP if they are concerned.

Advice to give patients

A GP can refer someone to audiology or ENT depending on local pathways and their symptoms. Most people will access their local tinnitus pathway through their GP, but they may not be aware that this support is available or how to get it. The most important thing for people with tinnitus to know is that there is plenty of support available and they don’t have to learn to live with it.

RNID’s top tips for nurses and healthcare professionals if someone talks to them about tinnitus are: