by Dr. Bill Rawls
Posted 12/10/21

Ringing in the ears, also known as tinnitus, can be a frustrating symptom of Lyme disease, and finding relief can be a challenge. Here, Dr. Bill Rawls discusses the mechanisms that cause tinnitus and what you can do to curb this irritating symptom using natural therapies. Read about Dr. Rawls’ personal recovery from Lyme disease here.

Subscribe to our Facebook and YouTube to get updates when new episodes are posted.

Video Transcript

Question: Is it common for people with chronic Lyme to have tinnitus?

Tim Yarborough: Next one here from Dorothy, wondering about tinnitus. Is it common for people with chronic lyme to have tinnitus and anything specific you recommend to help with that?

Dr. Rawls: Yeah. Ringing in the ears. Yeah, it’s really common. It’s really common. I had it. I think most people have it. It did clear. And both that and dizziness, and here we’re affecting nerve pathways in the inner ear, and that is affecting the auditory nerve.

We do know that a lot of microbes, this has been documented, and certainly for coronavirus, but also for Borrelia, travel down nerve pathways and invade nerves. And when you invade nerves, they get irritated. And when nerves get irritated, they don’t work well, and you get faulty transmission. It can be paresthesias, which are really common. Just those really irritating feelings on your skin. But it can also be ringing in the ears, which is really frustrating.

And there are some things that can help it directly. One of them, again, is just really creating that healthy environment with the herbs, suppressing the microbes, all the things that we’re talking about. But specifically, an herb called ginkgo has been very beneficial for a lot of people.

Ginkgo increases blood flow, and it also has immune-modulating effects. That’s an herb that can help with ringing in the ears. And what I found is most people, these kinds of symptoms, in my case, and in most people’s case, gradually go away. But boy, are they are irritating when they’re there.

Dr. Rawls is a physician who overcame Lyme disease through natural herbal therapy. You can learn more about Lyme disease in Dr. Rawls’ new best selling book, Unlocking Lyme.
You can also learn about Dr. Rawls’ personal journey in overcoming Lyme disease and fibromyalgia in his popular blog post, My Chronic Lyme Journey.