Tinnitus: Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber on Tinnitus

There is enough evidence to show that some patients of tinnitus do benefit from hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatment for tinnitus. Studies ranged from 60 minutes in a chamber at pressure and breathing high oxygen, to 1 year of treatment. One study showed about 33% of patients experienced improvement. Most sufferers experienced no change. Very few patients experienced a worsening of the tinnitus. The theory is that the pressurized oxygen is able to improve blood flow to the inner ear.

It makes sense that 33% of us would experience an improvement because not all tinnitus is the same nor does it have the same cause. Mine was noise induced but someone else may have a blood disorder as the cause. I would think that patients who have a blood disorder, that caused the tinnitus, would experience the greatest benefit from hyperbaric treatment (in theory).

I discovered pressurized air helps reduce my tinnitus for a few hours after I SCUBA dive. My tinnitus would practically disappear during and after a dive and then a few hours later it would suddenly startup again. It turns back on like a light switch. It is perplexing to me.

As a SCUBA diver descends he or she consumes greater volumes of compressed air molecules. A SCUBA regulator delivers greater volumes of air from the tank into the lungs to compensate for the compression of the molecules.

A SCUBA diver who is suffering from "the bends" receives higher concentrations of  oxygen as part of the first aid treatment. According to the Diver's Alert Network, the bends can cause damage to the body that is equal to a car wreck. I wonder if the opposite is also true.

Could greater concentrations of oxygen cause positive results for the body? More specifically, could greater concentrations of oxygen at pressure minimize tinnitus?

Since cigarette smoking has been shown to affect tinnitus negatively we can conclude that it is not outside of the realm of possibility that oxygen, in greater concentration under pressure, may be a possible tinnitus temporary relief treatment in the future. It certainly warrants more study.