Feb. 9 (UPI) —<\/span> Frequent use of over-the-counter pain relievers, including aspirin and acetaminophen, increases a person’s risk for tinnitus, a study published Wednesday by the Journal of General Internal Medicine found.<\/p>\n People who use non-prescription medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, used to treat pain conditions, frequently are at 20% higher risk for developing tinnitus than people who don’t use the drugs or use them infrequently, the data showed.\n<\/p>\n<\/article>\n In addition, women age 60 years and younger who use moderate doses of aspirin frequently are 16% more likely to develop the inner-ear disorder than non-users or infrequent users, the researchers said.<\/p>\n Frequent use of low-dose aspirin use did not elevate risk for the disorder, they said.\n<\/p>\n “Our findings suggest that analgesic users may be at higher risk for developing tinnitus,” study co-author Dr. Sharon Curhan said in a press release.\n<\/p>\n “For anyone who is considering taking these types of medications regularly … consult with a healthcare professional to discuss the risks and benefits and to explore whether there are alternatives to using medication,” said Curhan, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.<\/p>\n Over-the-counter, or OTC, pain relievers such as aspirin and NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen, are some of the most commonly used medications, according to the National Library of Medicine.\n<\/p>\n Although they can be obtained without a prescription and generally are safe, they still have side effects, Curhan and her colleagues said.<\/p>\n These side effects can be exacerbated with frequent use, including inadvertently exceeding the recommended dose of cold and sinus medications that contain some of the same ingredients, they said.<\/p>\n Still, pain relievers such as NSAIDs can be effective, without the risk for addiction that comes with some prescription medications, research suggests.\n<\/p>\n Up to 30% of adults in the United States experience tinnitus, commonly described as “ringing in the ears,” often to a disabling degree, according to the American Tinnitus Association.<\/p>\n People with the condition perceive sound when no actual external noise is present, and it can become chronic or long-term, the association says.\n<\/p>\n Among most people with tinnitus, the cause of their condition is unknown, and the effectiveness of treatments is limited, Curhan said.\n<\/p>\n In this study of nearly 70,000 women ages 31 to 48 years who were followed for 20 years, participants were asked about their use of over-the-counter pain medications, as well as prescription NSAID COX-2 inhibitors.<\/p>\n Responses revealed that frequent use — or six to seven days per week — of moderate-dose aspirin was associated with a 16% higher risk for tinnitus among women ages 60 years and younger, but not among older women, the data showed.<\/p>\n Frequent use of low-dose aspirin, at a dose of 100 milligrams or less, did not increase the risk for tinnitus among women, the researchers said.<\/p>\n However, frequent use of NSAIDs or acetaminophen, another OTC pain reliever, rose the risk for the ear disorder by nearly 20%, they said.<\/p>\n In addition, using prescription COX-2 inhibitors such as celecoxib two or more days per week increased the risk for tinnitus by 20%, according to the researchers.<\/p>\n “OTC analgesics clearly have benefits with short-term use, [but] frequent use of these medications and use over long periods of time may increase the risk of tinnitus and may cause other adverse health effects,” Curhan said.\n<\/p>\n “It is important to take these medications mindfully and to limit their use as much as possible, and to discuss any change in medication use, whether prescription or non-prescription, with your healthcare provider,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Use of widely available pain relievers may increase a person’s risk for tinnitus, according to a new study. Photo by Anemone123\/Pixabay Feb. 9 (UPI) — Frequent use of over-the-counter pain relievers, including aspirin and acetaminophen, increases a person’s risk for tinnitus, a study published Wednesday by the Journal of General Internal Medicine found. People who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":983276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[176,445,4644,607,4645,425,28,4646],"class_list":["post-983275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-finds","tag-increase","tag-overthecounter","tag-pain","tag-relievers","tag-risk","tag-study","tag-tinnitus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n ![\"Over-the-counter](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Over-the-counter-pain-relievers-may-increase-tinnitus-risk-study-finds.jpg\" "\\"Over-the-counter")
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\n<\/div>\nUse of widely available pain relievers may increase a person’s risk for tinnitus, according to a new study. Photo by Anemone123\/Pixabay<\/div>\n\n