Ayahuasca, a potent hallucinogenic brew, has become a popular remedy among wellness enthusiasts and stressed professionals. Many individuals turn to this traditional Amazonian drink in search of healing, whether they are dealing with depression, substance abuse issues, or simply seeking internal balance.

Recently, there’s been buzz around the idea that ayahuasca might also offer relief for tinnitus, a condition characterized by a persistent ringing in the ears that occurs without any external sound. Traditionally revered by indigenous Amazon communities for its sacred and medicinal properties, ayahuasca induces profound, hours-long psychedelic experiences.

One individual, Elias Bustos, a 39-year-old from Argentina, has dealt with tinnitus for two decades. His condition began after a damaging encounter sitting too close to a speaker. Despite trying various solutions to alleviate the constant noise, nothing seemed to work—until he encountered ayahuasca.

In 2017, Bustos attended an ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon, initially seeking solace from a breakup. Unexpectedly, he noticed a change in his tinnitus symptoms. “It stopped my tinnitus,” he recounted to the Daily Mail, describing the experience after drinking the brew. For brief moments, the relentless ringing ceased, offering him a rare sensation of complete calm.

This fleeting relief instilled in him a newfound hope. “It gave me confidence that there was a way to lower the pitch or ease it a bit,” Bustos explained, reflecting on how these experiences have influenced his perception of his condition.

‘[This moment] gave me confidence that there was a way to lower the pitch or ease it a bit.’

Ayahuasca has become more popular in recent years after claims spread that it can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions by ‘rewiring’ the brain.

However, the hallucinogen poses multiple risks for users. A major 2022 study on people who used the brew found more than half suffered from negative mental health effects that lasted for ‘weeks or months.’ In rare cases, patients also reported suffering a cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest or seizure. 

Pictured: Elias Bustos (center) on an ayahuasca retreat. He told the Daily Mail that taking the psychedelic made his tinnitus stop for a few moments 

Experts told the Daily Mail that although they were not aware of any studies showing it could help ease tinnitus, a link is plausible. 

Dr Arianna Bastys, an audiologist in Florida, told the Daily Mail it was possible that just simply being on the retreat, and away from the stresses of daily life, helped ease Bustos’ condition.

‘There is a big link between tinnitus and stress,’ she said. ‘And being able to manage your stress and achieve internal peace, [which] can happen when on a retreat, can help to reduce and relieve tinnitus symptoms in that moment.

‘It isn’t clear whether it was the ayahuasca itself causing this, or just the fact he was away from the stresses of daily life.’

Contrary to Bustos’s experience, some studies have suggested that ayahuasca can cause tinnitus, with a case report from 2020 describing a 39-year-old man who developed persistent buzzing in his ears after using the drug. 

An estimated 50million Americans (more than one in 10) suffer from some form of tinnitus – clinics report an uptick in the number in recent years.

Patients are often battling to find treatments to silence the constant ringing, with many prepared to go to great lengths.

Bustos, who works as a public relations professional, told the Daily Mail his tinnitus is not a severe form, although it still leaves him with a constant low-level ringing in his ears.

While on the Santo Dime ayahuasca retreat, he drank three shots of the substance before experiencing a break in his condition.

Bustos (pictured), from Argentina, said he found that ayahuasca allowed him to control his tinnitus. Doctors said it may have been the structure of the retreat, rather than the ayahuasca itself, that helped his condition

‘I did notice that I was actually able to control my tinnitus,’ he said, ‘I could not erase it completely, besides that stop for a few moments, but I was able to lower the pitch. In my head, I was able to do that.’

He has done ayahuasca four times since, and said that each time his tinnitus was also eased, but that he did not achieve the same initial pause.

Bustos has also tried Vipassana Meditation retreats, where participants are asked to be silent and meditate for 10 days. He found the meditation also helped to ease his tinnitus.

‘Clinical research does suggest that meditation can help,’ Joe Roche – communications manager at Neuromod, which helps people with tinnitus, and who has the condition himself – told the Daily Mail.

‘This is because it can relieve stress, which is also linked to tinnitus. It’s exactly the same thing for yoga.’ 

Bustos is just one patient who has gone to extraordinary lengths to ease this ear-related condition.

Ezra Hermann, 26, from New York, told the Daily Mail he had managed to ease his tinnitus by cutting salt out of his diet.

He started to suffer from the condition in 2021 on his 21st birthday, when his left ear suddenly began to hurt and ring ‘for no reason.’ 

‘It sounded like the constant rushing of waves,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t listen to music because it was painful.’

Doctors scanned his ear and diagnosed him with Meniere’s disease, a disorder of the inner ear that is believed to be caused by an imbalance of fluids in the organ, which can cause tinnitus. About 615,000 Americans have the condition.

After steroid treatments failed, Hermann opted to manage the condition himself. He stopped eating deli meats, switched to low sodium soy sauce and no longer put salt on his vegetables or in his soup.

Pictured: Steve Boylan, from Kansas, who has been suffering from tinnitus after serving in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. He said he keeps the TV on at night to drown out the sound

He was thrilled to find it worked, and the ringing went away.

Hermann told the Daily Mail that after a few months of the ringing disappearing, he added salt back into his diet. He is currently eating normally – with salt – and does not experience any ringing, but added that whenever he starts to hear the noise again, he removes the ingredient and it goes away.

Many influencers also push supplements online, claiming they can help to relieve tinnitus with just a few doses a day. 

Dr Yovina Khiroya-Morjaria, an audiologist in the UK, said she has heard of patients taking magnesium and vitamin B12 to soothe their tinnitus.

‘Magnesium, I do tend to hear more that that has helped some patients,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘But in most cases, it tends to have little to no impact.’

A 2011 study from the University of Arizona found that the severity of tinnitus was reduced among people who took magnesium over several months.

This may be because magnesium, a key substance used to make sleep-aiding hormone melatonin, has the potential to help boost your nightly snooze – and sleep is a known stress reducer.

Symptoms of tinnitus can include a whooshing sound of the heartbeat, a pulse in the ears, a high-pitched ringing noise and the bizarre sound of the eyeballs moving side to side or up and down (Stock image)

Some studies have suggested that people who are deficient in vitamin B12, an essential vitamin for driving bodily functions including red blood cell formation and DNA construction, may be more likely to suffer from tinnitus.

It is not clear why this is the case, but some experts have suggested it could be because the lack of the vitamin affects nerve function, causing the brain to create the ringing sound. It is not clear whether taking vitamin B12 supplements could ease the disease.

Other patients continue to rely on white noise machines to manage their tinnitus symptoms.

Mindie Barnett, 51, started suffering from tinnitus at the age of 35 years old. Hers is not noticeable in crowded spaces, she told the Daily Mail, but becomes apparent when she is in a quiet area.

She said she has now, after 16 years, gotten used to the noise, and uses a sound machine at night to help her sleep. She said the radio helps obscure the sound while she’s driving.

‘It’s always there,’ she said, ‘but I am normally distracted from it. When I am trying to be mindful or present, that is when it comes out…

‘I am just trying to keep my stress levels down at the moment in case my hearing gets any worse.’