Some COVID-19 patients say they’re left with ringing ears

David Segal

The suicide of Kent Taylor, the founder and chief executive of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, has drawn attention to a possible link between COVID-19 and tinnitus, the medical term for a constant ringing in the ears.

Taylor suffered from a variety of symptoms following his illness, including severe tinnitus, his family said in a statement, adding that his suffering had become “unbearable.”

Whether tinnitus is linked to COVID-19 — and, if so, how often it occurs — is an unanswered question. Neither the World Health Organization nor the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention describes tinnitus as a symptom, although auditory problems are common in other viral infections.

A study published Monday in the Journal of International Audiology that looked at nearly 60 case reports and studies found that 15% of adults with COVID19 reported symptoms of tinnitus. The authors believe that the respondents were describing either a new condition or a worsening one, although they are following up with the 60 or so researchers to be certain about how the surveys were worded.

“In the 24 hours since we published, I’ve received about 100 emails,” said Kevin Munro, a professor of audiology at the University of Manchester and a co-author of the study. “Almost of all of them were people saying, ‘I was so happy to read about this, because my doctor thought I was crazy when I mentioned tinnitus and now I know I’m not the only one.’ ”

There is also some evidence that COVID-19 can aggravate symptoms among people who had tinnitus before they contracted the disease. A study published late last year in the journal Frontiers in Public Health surveyed 3,100 people with tinnitus and found that 40% of the 237 respondents who had contracted COVID-19 reported that their symptoms were “significantly exacerbated” following the infection.