A significant number of tinnitus sufferers reported the symptom for the first time after starting medicating with a new drug.

Aspirin

Aspirin is the most commonly used drug with known effects on hearing and tinnitus. Medical reports show that after only 2 days of treatment with 5g of aspirin per day, there is a hearing loss of 10 up to 15 dB, which can continue to rise with use up to 40-50 dB. Total recovery happens in 24-72 hours after discontinuing the drug treatment. Tinnitus was actually used to control the serum levels of aspirin up to the concentration needed for anti-inflammatory effects; the dosage is increased until ear noises appear and the decreased just until they disappear.

Quinine

Quinine is a drug used mainly to treat malaria. With the decline of malaria cases in the western world, quinine has become a less likely cause of tinnitus. Also, although some studies have linked quinine with hearing loss or impairment, usually in the high frequency area, the connection between the drug and tinnitus has not been conclusively established. Cases with both reversible and irreversible tinnitus/hearing loss have been reported.

Antibiotics

Antibiotic drugs that may provoke irreversible tinnitus as a side-effect include vancomycin and the aminoglycoside antibiotics gentamicin, kanamycin, and streptomycin.

Others

Tobacco, caffeine, and alcohol have all been linked with tinnitus by several studies, either as a cause or as aggravating factor. However, no clear systematic study exists for either of them, thus providing no clear cause-effect link.