I got tinnitus from my third day of doing Wim Hof back in 2020 and i still have it. The fact that he downplays it, jokes about it, or puts the blame on those trying his breathing method by saying they're taking it too far is reprehensible and dangerously negligent. Because in the introductory video that I remember receiving via email campaign, he said to push the breath to the head. And that's what I did and that's what resulted in the tinnitus I'm pretty sure. Many people have been hurt by his breathing method and it's not worth the risk unless you want to have tinnitus. If Wim Hof was such a great guy he would address this tinnitus issue and how it's hurting people that try his breathing method. Instead he puts the blame on the people that are getting hurt and even jokes about it. The guy is a selfish scumbag in my opinion.
Yes, there are other forums where people have discussed this happening to them. It can literally ruin a persons life if they have trouble habituating to it. At the very least, there needs to be a disclaimer on all of his vids. It's a life changer in an enormously negative way for sure
I’ve been doing the WMH breathing since 2018. This year, in 2023 I developed a bad bout of Tinnitus and appreciate this video. Personally, I perform the breathing deep and slow/gental to moderate, and on the last breath-in to hold, I DO NOT push pressure to my head. Rather I hold it softly and slowly release it naturally at 12 seconds. This does not seem to aggravate my current Tinnitus, long term. The upside is, the method does rapidly get me out of my head with thinking, and moves me back into my body. My brain is very relaxed. I also do not do reps of 30 breaths, but rather 20 or 10 breaths each. I recall Wim mentioning over and over, listen to your body, do not force. Yet for the video’s I’ve watch it looks like people get really intense about it as if they are possessed and going through an exorcism. I noticed this with the younger ages. I’m in my 60’s, and learned we don’t have to beat ourselves up to achieve the same outcome. It’s comforting to know as you captured in this video what Wim and the other breathwork experts are saying, don’t go berserk with this. Be kind, kind in your approach. Softly, gently. The breathing method in my opinion is best to address the worry and rumination that can occur with Tinnitus suffers trying to find a release from worry. This breathing method does it, and faster than mindfulness breathing. Finally, I recommend TRT-Tinnitus Retraining Therapy along with Sound Therapy, proven to be the fastest way to get one through the expected states of Habitation - treblehealth.com/how-long-does-tinnitus-habituation-take-blog/ If you are in need to additional help for Tinnitus, I recommend checking out Ben Thompson’s channel. www.youtube.com/@benthompsonaud, co founder of Treblehealth. I am a a patient of theirs, and not paid to post this. But hands down, you can find the best quality encouraging, accurate, and optimistic news on all things Tinnitus with them. I’m trying to reach out to them to contact Wim too. It would nice if they do in debt video for their community too. Peace, all. And, thanks Scott, for posting this.
@@f.t.5859 I am gentle about forcing pressure to my head. My Tinnitus, I believe is from different cause but sure, the WMH method can make it louder temporarily, because of how connected Tinnitus is to the nervous system. Not a concern, but good to understand.
I did 9 straight months of whm every morning and i felt quiet amazing, but one day tinnitus kicked in. It lasted very evident for 2 years, not joking. Now 3 years and a half after it seems it has gone, but sometimes i ask myself if its just that now i am used too. Great video ! Thanks
it's not only the heightened auditory nerves, there is also the barotrauma caused by the 15 breath-hold push to the head. I know barotrauma happened in my case and many others because we have a sensation that our ears are clogged (as if in a high altitude) and they won't un-pop. In addition to the tinnitus, I've been dealing with this barotrauma for 3 years now and it's hell. If you interview WHM tinnitus sufferers, the symptoms are nearly identical: high pitched ringing, possible balance issues, inability to un-pop the ears. And in the beginning of our tinnitus, most of us also experienced painful pressure in our ears when we bent over to tie our shoes. Another reason I believe barotrauma is involved is if you pinch your nose and drink a glass of water, that normally unclogs the ears for most people, but not for us. Again, when I watched Wim Hof's intro video back in 2020 there was no mention that the 15 second hold was dangerous or that you could get tinnitus. I had to learn from Reddit that there were hundreds of people who were hurt by it, all after the fact, and that the symptoms are typically the same.
Im experiencing the same thing, happened after 3-4 weeks. The tinnitus is in the head it feels like. Its only my left ear that is clogged. Interestingly its the exact same feeling i got after taking the cable car from 1300m to 3800m many years ago. That went away after a few days. Seems like a barotrauma in some ways, but wouldnt that be accompanied by dizziness and/or hearing loss? I have no dizziness and no hearing loss. Fortunately the tinnitus isnt that severe, its usually only bothersome when i go to bed, but i am an excellent sleeper. The clogged left ear is bothersome. I wonder what it is, i really dont see how this could damage the ear because the middle/inner ear is separated from the body with the eustachian tube which is closed during the breathing. I didnt push to the head at all so i think that has nothing to do with it, i just inhaled fully. I have very tight eustachian tubes (always had trouble flying etc) so there is no way those opened during the breathing. What happened that tine in the cable car is understandable because it was a 2500m ascend i 15 minutes. Although very unpleasant for a few days, it didnt leave any permanant damage back then. So strNge thing that this breathing are causing the same symptoms. My sister got a clogged ear from the breathing but no tinnitus. That resolved after 7-8 months so there is hope i guess. Shes a singer so it was hell those months, but shes good now. Its seemingly also very rare, affecting possibly under 1%? I contacted the most known instructor in Norway and she was very nice. I dont think she lied when she said noone had told her about getting permanent tinnitus, and she has had groups for years. There are possibly thousands doing this in Norway.
Nice to hear your sister recovered. But as you said, she never developed tinnitus, and this is the symptom, that from what I've read almost never goes away. God, I wish I could rewind the time and never try that damn method.
@@loco79PL yeah i agree, this has to stop. Im 45, and i get really sad thinking about how Wim & his cult will ruin the life of many 20y olds. My tinnitus is pretty low so i guess im lucky, i sleep well etc, but i have this clogged left ear which is more annoying. My tinnitus has gotten better in 6 months, no doubt. The clogged ear actually came a few months later. If i recover from the clogged ear, i can live fine with the tinnitus. I actually hope someone famous soon will get this, because then Wims empire hopefully will fall, and this madness will stop. @sgcarney is trying, but fighting this hippie cult isnt easy. Ps: there are also many who recover from this. Forums is usually the worst place, ivre reached out to several people who have recovered, in everywhere between 2 weeks and 3.5 years.
It’s like the universe responded to me with this video, for literally 4 days ago after doing Wim Hof Breathing (up-regulating/ sympathetic ), interspersed with Pat Mckeown’s technique ( per recommendation from one of his videos), I experienced mild tinnitus that dissipated within a minute or so. This symptom really made me curious and I tuned into it and followed the sensation into fading. It initially induced mild anxiety but as I relaxed and followed through with the exercise, I returned to calm. Had it lasted any longer I may have become upset by it. This morning I decided to do the Wim Hof technique sans the Pat Mckeown technique and noticed that it happened again, but so faintly and short that it was barely noticeable. I will say that I found that I prefer to do Wim Hof through the nose as a theory that it’s not as intensely upregulating my nervous system?? Anyone else prefer or try this way?? I’m going to try removing the inhalation after breath retention and see if I notice any difference with the tinnitus. This is a new journey for me in examining and trying other ways to manage stress and anxiety after being familiar with down-regulating (parasympathetic ) breathwork for a number of years. I can say there’s something I appreciate about both approaches. The yin to the yang so to speak. At any rate I feel as though I’m learning so much and it’s true that one has to find what works for them. But more importantly, paying attention to the nuances experienced during these practices may help us to arrive where we need to be. Thank you for this topic. Very interesting and assuring.
I'm mostly deaf in my right ear and found that after doing the wim hof breathing that my right ear starts to ring loudly. It passes after a few minutes, and it doesn't bother me because it's actually nice to hear something in that ear for a change 😂 it doesn't happen in my left ear though, which has no hearing loss. Interesting stuff.
I totally get what Brain is saying. And I prefer slow breathing (longer out-breath) that brings your nervous system into parasympathetic rest and digest, and from there I get into the heart space and flow. Where Ideas come in and so on. I therefore see no reason to stress my nervous system out, when my nervous system tends to get into fight flight rage-anxiety quickly already, to my nervous system that is not beneficial. And what I found deeply healing and recharging was substances that activate the GABA receptor such as Amanita Muscaria or Ketamine.
Thank you for this video. I'm glad I caught onto this before I continued with the Wim Hof method instead of searching for another breathing technique better for me.
Thank you for this. I don't want to stop Wim Hoff method but I have noticed an increase in my Tinnitus, so I will abstain from the recovery breath hold, which is where I initially noticed the ringing.
Are you still doing the WHM? I noticed I have light tinnitus yesterday, day 8 of practicing the breathing but I don’t want to stop either. I only notice it when I have ear plugs in. I’m keen to hear how you navigated this!
I’ve had tinnitus for around 15 years from loud noise exposure. It takes about 10 years to come to terms with in my experience. Yes temporarily the Wim Hof breathing will cause tinnitus but it’s not from any damage. Ketamine also causes tinnitus as you get teleported into space. It’s nothing to worry about and is actually a symptom of your senses becoming much sharper.
@@pio7763 yeah I completely ruined my life with his stupid method too. I ended up with Polyps up my nose from hyperventilating, couldn’t sleep or breath for so long I had to get them surgically removed. The method is literally deadly. And Wim is getting away with killing people who keep drowning from his breathing just because he got a few blood markers taken by ‘scientists’ who made his ridiculous breathing game look ‘legitimate’. It’s actually terrifying what he has got away with.
Problem: my hearing is near perfect (yes, I had the test) and I still have tinnitus. Audiologists don't really understand what causes some forms of tinnitus but most of them will not admit it.
If you're hearing is "perfect" then how do you/your doctors define tinnitus? From my interviews with audiologists the ringing can have physiological and psychological causes.
@@sgcarney ringing = tinnitus. Tinnitus is the result of something, not the cause. Perfectly possible to have good hearing but still a ringing on top of that. So yes, it can have all kinds of causes but it is still labelled tinnitus, unfortunately. I say unfortunately, because the label really doesn't help to resolve it - on the contrary, believe. ENT doctors that are successful at treating one cause may be entirely ineffective at treating another. Hence, the label tinnitus doesn't help but just creates a very vague, undefined group of problems/causes.
In Chinese medicine it is the energetic imbalance of the kidney ( adrenals) and liver . Low grade wooshing is related to the kidney's and high pitched is the liver . @@2-meter
Same..I have had hearing tests and have no hearing loss. I've had tinnitus since I was 17..and it wasn't stress..nothing traumatic happened. I noticed it after going to loud clubs, it's made worse by colds , planes and long car journeys in fact instead of hearing loss, I feel super sensitive to noise now. My understanding is the hair follicles in the ears have flattened and that causes the noise. But I've not read anywhere that anyone understands it. I manage it with white noise at night but it's awful. I've started wimhoff breathing and it's become hugely noticeable after.. the ringing was super loud after and the pressure was significant. I don't hyperventilate I'm not breathing crazily. I also notice my ears block so I have to blow through my nose to unblock them. I also have a misaligned jaw and I've read it's a lot linked to thisb It's a bit of a bummer my tinnitus gets so much worse after the breathing, with meditation it doesn't.
Ok, I need help understanding something. Quick summary - I’ve had tinnitus in my left ear for a few years now due to an ear infection that resulted in my eardrum blowing out. It healed, and my hearing was restored, but as a result, there is now constant ringing in that ear (which I had more or less made peace with). A little over a month ago I started doing the Wim Hoff breathing based on the 11 minute video on his TH-cam channel. After about two weeks of doing the method, which really helped with my anxiety, I started developing ringing in my right ear. It has now been there for several weeks. I still want to continue the Wim Hof breathing method because it really has helped me to have less stress, anxiety, and gives me a lot of motivation for my day, however, I don’t want to continue having this ringing in my ear and I don’t want it to get worse. Based on what I heard in this video, my understanding is that I can still do the Wim Hof breathing method, but don’t do the full inhale after holding the exhale. Is this correct? I had stopped completely because of the ringing, but because of the stress in my life, I want to continue because it really did help. What should I do?
I got it two years ago after his breathing method. First it lasted only for minute so i didn't pay attention. But next day after his breathing it started again and stayed with me 😞
I’m 17 and I did the wim hof breathing for a couple times before the last time I attempted it, where I did hear a whooshing sound in my ears after my last set (the sound of air getting let out of something, like a leak in a balloon). I was scared it was tinnitus that developed, and even though it went away after a while I stopped and haven’t done it. Maybe now that I know that the whooshing is normal I will start up again, but if I shouldn’t please let me know.
Thanks for this very informative video 🙏. I'm a few days into trying out the breathing technique. First few times got the "white noise" effect. Figured it was similar to the tingly feeling you get on the holds & it goes away. However, on my 3rd day during the post-retention phase (15s head rush) I got like an implosion effect (or like a sudden unbalancing) & intense ringing on round 3. I knew that didn't feel "right" & google got me to here. Luckily, I always meditate for 30min immediately after & it went away after my meditation. However, from now on I will monitor my body closely. It can be permanent o_O? I will not do that post-retention phase any longer - not safe imho.
My ears ring but I put it down to Motorhead! Seriously, I’m at an age where I’d get it anyway. And if it was giving me slight ear issues….I’d still do it!
It’s interesting I just googled Wim Hof Tinnitus because my tinnitus isn’t nearly as bad after a few rounds of the breath work, although I didn’t do the advanced version you described.
It’s from a lack of oxygen to a part of the brain. There was a study at University of Illinois maybe Beckmann Institute and they did MRIs on people with tinnitus and found the area similar in all of them. There’s a video on TH-cam on tinnitus and blood flow in the brain from Beckman Institute (I think but can’t remember if that was the channel). I think it’s not good to starve the brain of oxygen probably. Idk.
@@sgcarney you’d probably just have to search for the video I described and it had the study in there but I’m sorry I’m not going to look for it for you. Good luck.
I doubt the "Wim Hof tinnitus" is the same as the tinnitus from loud noise. My left ear has been clogged ever sinse getting this, and my hearing is perfect. It reminds me of barotrauma induced tinnitus, only it doesnt go away. Its the exact same feeling i experienced 20 years ago, when taking a cable car from 1300moh to 3800moh, only then it just lasted for a few days. I fear Wim Hof has forever changed my life in a really really bad way.
@@schmeltis interesting. I wonder if part of it worsening is an Eustachian tube dysfunction. Did your audiologist differentiate types of tinnitus? I’m still learning a lot and this is the first I’ve heard of barotrauma induced tinnitus. Glad you shared this.
@@tnijoo5109 yeah i have no hearing or balance issues. I have always had a little trouble equalizing on airplanes etc, goes with the family. When i do the Valsalva i can feel my right ear opening and air go out, the same thing doesnt happen on my clogged left side. Im reluctant to surgery, as i have heard other Wim Hof Victims had no effect of balloon dilatation. I cant understand why the so called WHM is popular, when so many people experience severe side effects. Still cant believe doing this for 3 weeks have messed my up permanently, but i fear it, its been 9 months. Maybe ill recover at one point. At least😢 im 45, i sometimes think about if this happened in my 20s, it could potentially ruin my life. I should have known though, holding your breath on a daily basis is a very unnatural thing to do. Im also a little embarressed for believing this crap, guess i have a weak point when it comes to my own health. 30 people dead, and thousands messed up like me, and people still doing this method.
Wim Hoff changed my life, in a very bad negative way. In fact, if I was not able to habituate to this tinnitus that I now have had for 2 years, I would say he completely ruined my life. If I had known beforehand of the possible side effects and negative implications that could possibly happen, I never would have participated in his guided breath work meditation!! After three rounds, and the retention breath hold a 15 seconds,Mr eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Entered into my life. It was total mental torture at the beginning. My sympathetic nervous system was activated into fight for flight mode high red alert 24/7! And is still with me to this day. I do believe that Barotrauma plays into this as well, from the pressure build up of energy that went straight to my head. Going on 2 years of this now and I have learned how to habituate with masking sounds. At night trying to sleep is where I have the most difficult time. The quieter, the room, and the environment. The more noticeable the frequency is in my head. And you are exactly right to say that Tinnitus is not an ear problem but that it is in the brain. That is the absolute truth. Anyways, I am trying to figure out ways to activate my parasympathetic nervous system where it will be more dominant and override the sympathetic side of fight or flight. One thing I can say, and I keep telling myself this. Is that if I can get through this mental torture that I endure every day 24/7, I can conquer almost anything. So far that is what has kept me going. I have to keep myself distracted, with neuroplasticity, and tinnitus retraining therapy. That has been most helpful with this life altering situation. Wim off should be ashamed of himself for ruining people's lives, and then having the audacity to laugh about it. Retribution is inevitable for those who do evil ,and harm others. The irony here of it all is that, I was doing the Wim Hoff breath work to reduce my stress levels, and anxiety. And now I have more stress and anxiety in my life than I ever have because of this injury to my brain.
@@tomf4612NOPE! I have just learned to accept it as part of my life. And try not to let it bother me too much. I stay distracted. And I take a sleep aid so I can get some rest hopefully one day it will be disappear completely. But I am not going to let it control my life, I have too much to live for. 😊
@@chrisjennings1384 thanks for getting back to me dude. I am the same - and I think it's also caused eustachian tube issues. Are you in the UK? I also have the same mindset as you - way too much to live for despite the challenges. 🙏🏻
@@tomf4612 Hi Tom! No, I currently reside in the USA. Same here, I believe I have Eustachian tube damage, and baro trauma injury from the guided meditation breath work exercises. I followed doing Wim Hoff method. Method. My symptoms never existed until after the third round of breathing, and the 15 second retention breath hold I believe is what caused the damage. Because of the pressure build up of energy that is pushed into the head and brain area. Are you familiar with Dr. Ben Thompson? He's an audiologist who is well known. He has a great TH-cam channel and keeps people updated on the latest technologies and medical devices etc.... a recent development of something called the Leniers device has been developed, and is showing very promising results. By the FDA and they are slowly putting it into audiologist clinics as a form of therapy to reduce and even eliminate the issue of tinnitus.Waiting for it to get too my area...Also TRT- tinnitus retraining therapy, and neuroplasticity are also helpful. That is what has helped me along the way of this two and a half year journey of Mr. Eeeeeeeeeeeeee taking up residence inside my head. Anyways, stay strong my friend, and never give up!
I have suffered from tinnitus for years, got worse the past 5 years. High pitch sound, it alters frequency when i open my mouth. Worse at night, probably less background noise. I would be in a relax state.
Hi Mr.Carney, Thank you so much for the great video! I have also done Wim Hof breathing, but I also started getting extreme pressure and a feeling of fullness in my ears which is worse than the tinnitus symptoms. Do you think the pressure in my ears is also related to energy or is it a physical condition caused by the eustachian tube?I also did Baloon dilation about a few weeks ago which cost me over 10k but there is no improvement yet, so I need clarification about the cause of the fullness, which occurred on the day I did the Wim Hof breathing about 10 months ago. Any help or suggestion is appreciated.
It sort of sounds like you were doing one of the pressure moves and might have hurt something physically in your ear. But I definitely don't have enough information to know. Maybe it's just a feeling?
@@tomf4612 Hi Tom, would love to chat further on this with you, or anyone else that is dealing with the same issues. I have concluded, that I have endured barotrauma, and quite possibly some eustation tube injury from these WIM HOFF breath work exercises. It is also called "Tummo" breathing in yoga circles of influence. Not really sure if this has anything to do with it or not but I thought I should mention. That I went on vacation last week up into some high elevation areas of the mountains. I immediately noticed that my ears did NOT pop or pressurize when they should have. My wife's ears popped, and pressure equalized., but mine never did. That's what leads me to believe Eustachian Tube is related somehow to this problem. Anyways just thought I would throw that out there.Also started dealing with some vertigo issues mid spring, but they have subsided through specific exercises of Physical Therapy training. Don't know if this is related or not? Any feedback would be appreciated.Mr.eeeeeeeeeeee still remains in my head to this day. Thank you
I developed tinnitus during Wim Hof breathing excersises, got ear ringing just after my second session. First the ringing was very loud for about the minute, then it reduced but unfortunately never went away. It was 2 days ago, I wasn't even worried much, but when I started reading reddit, I found numerous post about it getting permanent. Gonna wait few weeks and see but it's hard to think positive after reading so many stories. I wish I never saw this metod on yt, but really, all comments were so positive, that I did not even consider fucking breathing excersises can do any permanent damage. The irony is, I tried to find relief from other bad conditions and feelings doing those excersises, and ended up developing something even worse and potentialy for life. Still can't believe it...
Hi there, just wanted to give you words of encouragement. I received severe tinnitus after doing Wim Hoff breath work, going on two years now. Been to numerous ENTs to no avail. The ringing is in your head, not your ears. Just wanted to save you the trouble of going to all different doctors. I believe that I sustained barotrauma trauma, and possibly brain injury from this PRESSURE BUILD UP of ENERGY IN MY HEAD during the 15 second retention breath hold,of the guided meditation of WIM HOFF breath work. It is also known as tumo breathing in yoga. Very extreme. Learn to activate your parasympathetic side of your nervous system to keep you calm. That is the best advice I can give to keep you from. Going insane. Are having abouts of panic attacks and anxiety because the noise will not go away. Use masking sounds and stay distracted and even take a sleep aid if needed. I take something called instasleep. It is all natural. No side effects whatsoever and does not leave you feeling brain foggy in the mornings. Hope this helps. Stay strong, and stay in control. Do not let it conquer you. God bless
Thank you but I still kind of want to believe it eventually goes away. I know, I'm naive. But the feeling is so bad. About A week after initial symptoms, I developed ear fullness, hyperacusis and sinus/headache. Feels like I can't unclog my ears. All this makes me anxious, and I have already had anxiety before starting whb due to other chronic illness (this is the irony - wanted to realax in order to help my symptoms, but instead got everything worse). Hate this guy and wish him all the worst, he ruined so many people's lives and doesn't even give a fk.
@@loco79PL Yes!! Same here, ear fullness ect... I haven't had hypercussis symptoms yet but I have experienced vertigo. If you have hypersensitivity to this ringing noise or other noises, the worst thing you can do is to stay in an isolated, quiet environment. It will only make it worse. Stay distracted, get outdoors. Enjoy the environment, in quiet settings is when it becomes intolerable and a tyrant inside your head. Are you familiar with Dr. Ben Thompson audiologist? If not, I highly advise. Looking up information on his TH-cam channel. He keeps you updated on all the latest technology devices and so forth that are battling this problem. He even has tinnitus himself. There is a device called Leniers that has been developed recently and is showing very promising results. It has even been approved by the FDA. They are slowly starting to introduce this device inside of audiology clinics. It is a form of therapy. This may help you. TRT tinnitus retraining therapy, and Neuro plasticity are very helpful too to adjusting to this new way of life, hopefully that will only be temporary. I have not lost hope yet. I do believe there is a cure but I am going on two and a half years now of suffering from this debilitating mental torture. In regards to WimHoff, I understand that he is on the run somewhere out in Australia. His empire is starting to crumble because of all of the lawsuits and litigation that is bringing him down. I also understand that 13 people have died from following this Wim Hoff method. Retribution is inevitable for those who do harm to others and have the audacity to laugh about it. Stay strong. Don't give up. I also like you, was following these guided meditation, breath work exercises to rid myself of stress! The irony here is I am now more stressed out than I have ever been because of this debilitating Mr.eeeeeeeeeeeeee that now resides inside my head. Also, I was under the impression that this type of breath work was a form of bodily cleansing of toxins, and bacteria, and viruses etc.... I was doing this as a form of protecting myself from getting Covid-19. 🙄
I have Menieres - so far only in my (now deaf as a result) left ear, loud constant tinnitus is one of the symptoms.. I've found doing the WHM and other styles of breath work actually alleviate it and drop the volume. I do eat healthy and keep fit though so I think my parasympathetic control is in check.. just an alternative angle for you ☺️
I have tinnitus too, and it started after I got acquainted with the excercises of WHM. Today I also found out that I score high on the test of hyperventilation, which means you don't have enough CO2 in your blood. Maybe that might be the cause of my tinnitus ( 'the hum' ). I drink a lot of water now and quit with the daily vodka.
Is there any chance that the Wim Hof method is just exhasterbating the symptoms of Eustachian tube dysfunction, by causing an even stronger dysregulation of the pressure system in the ear, causing (temporary) hearing loss which causes tinnitus?
listening to this video gave me tinitus. we'll see how long it lasts. but it makes me wonder how much the temporary tinitus of breath work induces a more durable awareness of an existing tinitus that was previously bypassed in the brain. Signals that don't vary fade, but if they do vary over time then they can reenter awareness. i forget the biochemical mechanism but it has a name. and simply trying to notice tinitus might be enough variation to induce it (as in my case just now).
@@sgcarney yes. it's gone now. I'd say I haven't noticed having an ear ringing in at least a year. it was slightly alarming. If I stop and focus on it for a minute I can bring it back. it's a very light ringing and so maybe is early tinnitus, and hence why I can forget about it easily.
You missed what Wim said. The method is 30 breaths 1 min exhale hold 15 second inhale hold. Wim says try without the inhale hold at the end of the exhale hold. I have tried to time the inhale hold (15) on my own or just lost track of time because I’m so relaxed and probably over done it and that’s probably where my tinnitus comes from. It’s like I was addicted to that intense relaxation I didn’t want that 15 seconds to end. I will try what Wim said for 1 week and report back on my findings.
We are in agreement that is the basic technique. You just didn’t reply to Wim’s solution of no inhale hold helping with the tinnitus. In any case we are in agreement on the conclusion!
Been doing the WMH (cold showers, YT breathing exercice) since October, so that marks three months now, and felt incredible. I've started noticing ringing in my right ear during my silent meditations after the breathing exercises and sometimes at night in bed. At first I believed it had been from all the music I've listened to over the years, the concerts and FPS games I played. After reading these comments and the WMH book (literally the suspicious last section at the end) I feel the method is to blame most. I will completely stop with the breathing exercices and go back to my old meditation. I'll do a check-up at the doctor and do a test but I'm afraid it won't do much. If Wim Hoff has heard numerous complaints about this and chooses to neglect them, I feel deeply disappointed in him. He always struck me as an honest man but this is very sad. I will come back to this post in a few months or a year. Wishing you all the best online people. Stay strong. ✨🙏✨
Did it get better after you stopped? I’m experiencing similar issues and am wondering if it’s the breathing exercises or my videogame/music passion. I am so scared and hope that I didn’t ruin my hearing irreversibly.
@@webby8950 I went to a specialist and did tests, turns out I indeed have tinnitus but it's very liveable. Yes, it got better after I stopped with the breathing exercises. At moments, I don't even hear it, which I'm really happy about! She also said that it's cause of the build up of listening to tons of music, gaming with headsets and loud concerts without earplugs. She also recommended to wear earplugs when going to concerts or adjust the volume when you play games because it can make it worse. My advice: do not worry too much and stay away from the breathing exercises. I sometimes do them mildly but without the breath holds.
I read on reddit that this is caused by the squeeze head, when you put air into lungs and pressing it to the head for about 10 seconds on the recovery time. I think that if you don't do that, MAYBE you are safe. Still don't watched all the video to see if it says something related.
No not the squeeze. I didnt do the push-to -the head thing, stilm got permanent tinnitus from it. Probably happens to relatively few, but stay away if you want to play it safe!
@@schmeltis Thanks for the information. Will take a take from everything, except meditation and research about Buteyko safety. But what do you think about eliminate the recovery breath hold (10 seconds)? I really got depressed when I have any healh problem.
@@sgcarney yeah, went to an ear specialist and everything, did all the hearing tests and there seems to be no damage, so it's just so weird/annoying, they said it might just be one of those things that goes away by itself, but still hasn't. 😕
@@sgcarney you should really really try to warn people about this side effect, its NOT worth the risc, although it seemingly happen to very few. For many its not only tinnitus, but other ear symptoms as well, as i think youve heard, and its a direct consequence of the breath holding. It really affects your quality of life to the extreme, and there should be a big warning about this in the beginning of all the instructional videos. Its quite paradoxal that Wim focus this much on mental health and suicide, when the side effects of this method can make you crazy. Ive read on several forums that people have gotten anxiety and depression from the side effects of this method. I really hope Wim knows about this, if he has any empathy at all, i cant understand how he can continue to promote this method without a BIG warning. Only positive thing i can think of is that Im 45, so at least many things are in place, and ive had many good years. It really makes me sad that this probably happens to 20y olds with life ahead of them. Im strong, with no other health issues and a good mental health, but its extremely hard to habituate to this. This has to stop!
@@sgcarney yeah i dont think people understand how hard this side effect is. I really dont understand that Wim doesnt take this very seriously if he has any empathy at all. This has been extremely tough for me and my family. Breath holding isnt a natural thing that everybody should do. Keep up the good work!
Any thoughts on the role of cold showers in creating these issues? I used to always have cold showers but stopped when I started getting blocked ears due to not being in a steamy shower in the morning. I wonder if the pressure from the breath hold combined with the cold showers could be creating an issue.
I think (almost) everyone has "Tinnitus" to a degree. When i think of it there are many times ive noticed sounds in my head when there is total silence. When you dont fear it, it goes away, like you dont hear the refrigerator or the wall clock. The brain tunes it out when its not dangerous. I think fear is an important component here. I got very aware of the sound after doing some WHF, and when i got afraid of having permanent tinnitus, it got worse. Then you google it and start visiting forums and start a deadly negative feedback loop. For some days now i have barely thought about it, because i havent given it any attention. When im in a silent room and "search" for the noise its there, but it has probably always been there. I think this is a bit like people who have permanent trouble sleeping. If you get stressed about it of course it only gets worse. Everyone has a day or periods where sleep isnt optimal, but the key is to be relaxed about it.
Really don't like this comment, don't make people feel guilty for a serious health issue they got from this practice. After having the tinnitus for year on year, you completely forget about the fear/wim hof method all together, yet the ringing is still there!
@@lachycummings3765 yeah im sorry, wrote that comment way too early. Wim Hof method has #^@# me up completely too. Did it only for about 3 weeks, and ive gotten all the symptoms it seems. The tinnitus is actually not a big problem, its low for me, and doesnt affect sleep. Mostly i dont hear it daytime. Biggest problem for me is the constant fullness in my left ear, which came a bit later. This fullness also affects how i hear my own voice on the left side. Fortunately the hyperacusis and MEM is gone, and the tinnitus is improving. Of course i regret this stupid method, but at the same time, it seemingly happen to very very few, probably way lower than 1%. So i have to respect all the people that claim this method has helped them. My life was fine, so i didnt need this method, so of course i regret it. I sure hope this fullness will dissapear at some point. It feels like some kind of barotrauma, which is weird, because i didnt even push to the head, so didnt create much pressure in the head. Last ENT said that when im not dizzy and have perfect hearing, it cant be a serious trauma, so have to hope that it gets better over time.
Excellent, i have tinnitus and it coincided with Him Hop first experience fews years ago but I never make the relationship, I am sim pathetic nerveus and anxiety caractère ! I understand now that my caractère wasn’t compatible with this sort of breath exercise, I think that a person should be prepare with a solid parasympathetic system and a healthy constitution before entering the Wim Hof method, it’s a very good tool but it’s important to practice the opposite after like the PatrickMcKeown method to reinstalling the parasympathetic system! Thank you very much it was very lighting.
I have tinnitus. Since my army time, 30 years ago. It was caused by a tank firing not allowed within the break. It will never leave me again until the nerves that have been damaged by that shot are healed again. So i cant't tell if it is going away after i stop the breathwork. The tone doesen't change while breathworking. My tone is like in this video at 4min14: th-cam.com/video/eqwBjR63O9w/w-d-xo.html At 1:08 you said something that i experienced myself. I use tinnitus as an alarmsystem to determine if i have an illness that is going to establish itself inside of me. I can "hear" it from the ringing :)
Mine is around 4000hz too. I noticed it first in 2010 and back then it made me feel panicky and claustrophobic. I don't know whether it had been there for much longer without my noticing it, but I can say for sure that the more I concentrated on it, the worse it seemed. I should add that I have also lost 80% of the higher frequencies (a virus, long ago...before my 30s, even). Now, it's still there all the time; I can even hear it over loud music. But I'm not at all bothered by it. That came as a result of acceptance. The more I focused on it, and resisted, the worse I felt. I'm intrigued by your last paragraph...
@@alicejwho In my case I feel the ringing is becoming more intense if my body is infected by some illness. Maybe other persons even hear a change in the frequency.
I got tinnitus from just about 1 week of wim hof. I think it's because of the cold shower rarher than the breathing. When i do the breathing, the tinnitus goes away.
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I got tinnitus from my third day of doing Wim Hof back in 2020 and i still have it. The fact that he downplays it, jokes about it, or puts the blame on those trying his breathing method by saying they're taking it too far is reprehensible and dangerously negligent. Because in the introductory video that I remember receiving via email campaign, he said to push the breath to the head. And that's what I did and that's what resulted in the tinnitus I'm pretty sure. Many people have been hurt by his breathing method and it's not worth the risk unless you want to have tinnitus.
If Wim Hof was such a great guy he would address this tinnitus issue and how it's hurting people that try his breathing method. Instead he puts the blame on the people that are getting hurt and even jokes about it. The guy is a selfish scumbag in my opinion.
Yes. Agreed.
Yes, there are other forums where people have discussed this happening to them. It can literally ruin a persons life if they have trouble habituating to it. At the very least, there needs to be a disclaimer on all of his vids. It's a life changer in an enormously negative way for sure
I’ve been doing the WMH breathing since 2018. This year, in 2023 I developed a bad bout of Tinnitus and appreciate this video. Personally, I perform the breathing deep and slow/gental to moderate, and on the last breath-in to hold, I DO NOT push pressure to my head. Rather I hold it softly and slowly release it naturally at 12 seconds. This does not seem to aggravate my current Tinnitus, long term. The upside is, the method does rapidly get me out of my head with thinking, and moves me back into my body. My brain is very relaxed. I also do not do reps of 30 breaths, but rather 20 or 10 breaths each. I recall Wim mentioning over and over, listen to your body, do not force. Yet for the video’s I’ve watch it looks like people get really intense about it as if they are possessed and going through an exorcism. I noticed this with the younger ages. I’m in my 60’s, and learned we don’t have to beat ourselves up to achieve the same outcome. It’s comforting to know as you captured in this video what Wim and the other breathwork experts are saying, don’t go berserk with this. Be kind, kind in your approach. Softly, gently. The breathing method in my opinion is best to address the worry and rumination that can occur with Tinnitus suffers trying to find a release from worry. This breathing method does it, and faster than mindfulness breathing. Finally, I recommend TRT-Tinnitus Retraining Therapy along with Sound Therapy, proven to be the fastest way to get one through the expected states of Habitation - treblehealth.com/how-long-does-tinnitus-habituation-take-blog/
If you are in need to additional help for Tinnitus, I recommend checking out Ben Thompson’s channel. www.youtube.com/@benthompsonaud, co founder of Treblehealth. I am a a patient of theirs, and not paid to post this. But hands down, you can find the best quality encouraging, accurate, and optimistic news on all things Tinnitus with them. I’m trying to reach out to them to contact Wim too. It would nice if they do in debt video for their community too. Peace, all. And, thanks Scott, for posting this.
Thanks for this! I hope those links help someone.
Do you start to moderate after you developed tinnitus or you always did softly in relation to push to the head?
@@f.t.5859 I am gentle about forcing pressure to my head. My Tinnitus, I believe is from different cause but sure, the WMH method can make it louder temporarily, because of how connected Tinnitus is to the nervous system. Not a concern, but good to understand.
I did 9 straight months of whm every morning and i felt quiet amazing, but one day tinnitus kicked in. It lasted very evident for 2 years, not joking. Now 3 years and a half after it seems it has gone, but sometimes i ask myself if its just that now i am used too. Great video ! Thanks
Thanks!
May I ask how old you are, and if you kept doing whm for all this time? (3,5 years)
it's not only the heightened auditory nerves, there is also the barotrauma caused by the 15 breath-hold push to the head. I know barotrauma happened in my case and many others because we have a sensation that our ears are clogged (as if in a high altitude) and they won't un-pop. In addition to the tinnitus, I've been dealing with this barotrauma for 3 years now and it's hell. If you interview WHM tinnitus sufferers, the symptoms are nearly identical: high pitched ringing, possible balance issues, inability to un-pop the ears. And in the beginning of our tinnitus, most of us also experienced painful pressure in our ears when we bent over to tie our shoes.
Another reason I believe barotrauma is involved is if you pinch your nose and drink a glass of water, that normally unclogs the ears for most people, but not for us. Again, when I watched Wim Hof's intro video back in 2020 there was no mention that the 15 second hold was dangerous or that you could get tinnitus. I had to learn from Reddit that there were hundreds of people who were hurt by it, all after the fact, and that the symptoms are typically the same.
Interesting. Thanks.
Im experiencing the same thing, happened after 3-4 weeks. The tinnitus is in the head it feels like. Its only my left ear that is clogged. Interestingly its the exact same feeling i got after taking the cable car from 1300m to 3800m many years ago. That went away after a few days. Seems like a barotrauma in some ways, but wouldnt that be accompanied by dizziness and/or hearing loss? I have no dizziness and no hearing loss. Fortunately the tinnitus isnt that severe, its usually only bothersome when i go to bed, but i am an excellent sleeper. The clogged left ear is bothersome.
I wonder what it is, i really dont see how this could damage the ear because the middle/inner ear is separated from the body with the eustachian tube which is closed during the breathing. I didnt push to the head at all so i think that has nothing to do with it, i just inhaled fully. I have very tight eustachian tubes (always had trouble flying etc) so there is no way those opened during the breathing. What happened that tine in the cable car is understandable because it was a 2500m ascend i 15 minutes. Although very unpleasant for a few days, it didnt leave any permanant damage back then. So strNge thing that this breathing are causing the same symptoms.
My sister got a clogged ear from the breathing but no tinnitus. That resolved after 7-8 months so there is hope i guess. Shes a singer so it was hell those months, but shes good now.
Its seemingly also very rare, affecting possibly under 1%? I contacted the most known instructor in Norway and she was very nice. I dont think she lied when she said noone had told her about getting permanent tinnitus, and she has had groups for years. There are possibly thousands doing this in Norway.
Nice to hear your sister recovered. But as you said, she never developed tinnitus, and this is the symptom, that from what I've read almost never goes away. God, I wish I could rewind the time and never try that damn method.
@@loco79PL yeah i agree, this has to stop. Im 45, and i get really sad thinking about how Wim & his cult will ruin the life of many 20y olds. My tinnitus is pretty low so i guess im lucky, i sleep well etc, but i have this clogged left ear which is more annoying. My tinnitus has gotten better in 6 months, no doubt. The clogged ear actually came a few months later. If i recover from the clogged ear, i can live fine with the tinnitus. I actually hope someone famous soon will get this, because then Wims empire hopefully will fall, and this madness will stop. @sgcarney is trying, but fighting this hippie cult isnt easy. Ps: there are also many who recover from this. Forums is usually the worst place, ivre reached out to several people who have recovered, in everywhere between 2 weeks and 3.5 years.
It’s like the universe responded to me with this video, for literally 4 days ago after doing Wim Hof Breathing (up-regulating/ sympathetic ), interspersed with Pat Mckeown’s technique ( per recommendation from one of his videos), I experienced mild tinnitus that dissipated within a minute or so. This symptom really made me curious and I tuned into it and followed the sensation into fading. It initially induced mild anxiety but as I relaxed and followed through with the exercise, I returned to calm. Had it lasted any longer I may have become upset by it.
This morning I decided to do the Wim Hof technique sans the Pat Mckeown technique and noticed that it happened again, but so faintly and short that it was barely noticeable. I will say that I found that I prefer to do Wim Hof through the nose as a theory that it’s not as intensely upregulating my nervous system?? Anyone else prefer or try this way??
I’m going to try removing the inhalation after breath retention and see if I notice any difference with the tinnitus. This is a new journey for me in examining and trying other ways to manage stress and anxiety after being familiar with down-regulating (parasympathetic ) breathwork for a number of years. I can say there’s something I appreciate about both approaches. The yin to the yang so to speak.
At any rate I feel as though I’m learning so much and it’s true that one has to find what works for them. But more importantly, paying attention to the nuances experienced during these practices may help us to arrive where we need to be.
Thank you for this topic. Very interesting and assuring.
Glad it found you when it did.
Does the Par technique create any issues with tinnitus? Did doing an altered version of the Wim Hoff method help you avoid tinnitus?
I get it for a few minutes after a lengthy session, fades out relatively quickly. Similar deal with psychedelics, but lasting much longer.
For many, at a certain point it becomes permanent.
You're lucky but for how long. One day it could stay with you
Amazing video. It gave me the necessary insight as to why my tinnitus multiplied tenfold in amplitude during and after the retention breath.
Glad it was helpful!
I'm mostly deaf in my right ear and found that after doing the wim hof breathing that my right ear starts to ring loudly. It passes after a few minutes, and it doesn't bother me because it's actually nice to hear something in that ear for a change 😂 it doesn't happen in my left ear though, which has no hearing loss. Interesting stuff.
I totally get what Brain is saying.
And I prefer slow breathing (longer out-breath) that brings your nervous system into parasympathetic rest and digest, and from there I get into the heart space and flow. Where Ideas come in and so on.
I therefore see no reason to stress my nervous system out, when my nervous system tends to get into fight flight rage-anxiety quickly already, to my nervous system that is not beneficial.
And what I found deeply healing and recharging was substances that activate the GABA receptor such as Amanita Muscaria or Ketamine.
word.
Thank you for this video. I'm glad I caught onto this before I continued with the Wim Hof method instead of searching for another breathing technique better for me.
Thank you for this. I don't want to stop Wim Hoff method but I have noticed an increase in my Tinnitus, so I will abstain from the recovery breath hold, which is where I initially noticed the ringing.
That sounds like a good idea.
Are you still doing the WHM? I noticed I have light tinnitus yesterday, day 8 of practicing the breathing but I don’t want to stop either. I only notice it when I have ear plugs in. I’m keen to hear how you navigated this!
I’ve had tinnitus for around 15 years from loud noise exposure. It takes about 10 years to come to terms with in my experience.
Yes temporarily the Wim Hof breathing will cause tinnitus but it’s not from any damage. Ketamine also causes tinnitus as you get teleported into space.
It’s nothing to worry about and is actually a symptom of your senses becoming much sharper.
Will it make my tinnitus worse permanently if I already have bad tinnitus ?
Bs. I never have it before I use this stupid breathing method. Now I have it for 2 years
@@pio7763 yeah I completely ruined my life with his stupid method too. I ended up with Polyps up my nose from hyperventilating, couldn’t sleep or breath for so long I had to get them surgically removed. The method is literally deadly. And Wim is getting away with killing people who keep drowning from his breathing just because he got a few blood markers taken by ‘scientists’ who made his ridiculous breathing game look ‘legitimate’. It’s actually terrifying what he has got away with.
Problem: my hearing is near perfect (yes, I had the test) and I still have tinnitus. Audiologists don't really understand what causes some forms of tinnitus but most of them will not admit it.
If you're hearing is "perfect" then how do you/your doctors define tinnitus? From my interviews with audiologists the ringing can have physiological and psychological causes.
I have exactly the same problem. Hearing is perfect but still there is this noise...
@@sgcarney ringing = tinnitus. Tinnitus is the result of something, not the cause. Perfectly possible to have good hearing but still a ringing on top of that. So yes, it can have all kinds of causes but it is still labelled tinnitus, unfortunately. I say unfortunately, because the label really doesn't help to resolve it - on the contrary, believe. ENT doctors that are successful at treating one cause may be entirely ineffective at treating another. Hence, the label tinnitus doesn't help but just creates a very vague, undefined group of problems/causes.
In Chinese medicine it is the energetic imbalance of the kidney ( adrenals) and liver . Low grade wooshing is related to the kidney's and high pitched is the liver . @@2-meter
Same..I have had hearing tests and have no hearing loss. I've had tinnitus since I was 17..and it wasn't stress..nothing traumatic happened. I noticed it after going to loud clubs, it's made worse by colds , planes and long car journeys in fact instead of hearing loss, I feel super sensitive to noise now.
My understanding is the hair follicles in the ears have flattened and that causes the noise. But I've not read anywhere that anyone understands it.
I manage it with white noise at night but it's awful. I've started wimhoff breathing and it's become hugely noticeable after.. the ringing was super loud after and the pressure was significant. I don't hyperventilate I'm not breathing crazily. I also notice my ears block so I have to blow through my nose to unblock them.
I also have a misaligned jaw and I've read it's a lot linked to thisb
It's a bit of a bummer my tinnitus gets so much worse after the breathing, with meditation it doesn't.
Ok, I need help understanding something.
Quick summary - I’ve had tinnitus in my left ear for a few years now due to an ear infection that resulted in my eardrum blowing out. It healed, and my hearing was restored, but as a result, there is now constant ringing in that ear (which I had more or less made peace with). A little over a month ago I started doing the Wim Hoff breathing based on the 11 minute video on his TH-cam channel. After about two weeks of doing the method, which really helped with my anxiety, I started developing ringing in my right ear. It has now been there for several weeks.
I still want to continue the Wim Hof breathing method because it really has helped me to have less stress, anxiety, and gives me a lot of motivation for my day, however, I don’t want to continue having this ringing in my ear and I don’t want it to get worse. Based on what I heard in this video, my understanding is that I can still do the Wim Hof breathing method, but don’t do the full inhale after holding the exhale. Is this correct?
I had stopped completely because of the ringing, but because of the stress in my life, I want to continue because it really did help.
What should I do?
You will have to experiment with what works best for you.
You'd be crazy to continue. WHM has given thousands of people permanent T!!
Did your symptoms improve?
I did WH breathing for over a month and my left ear now is having smth like a humming sound...I hope it will go away.
I got it two years ago after his breathing method. First it lasted only for minute so i didn't pay attention. But next day after his breathing it started again and stayed with me 😞
I’m 17 and I did the wim hof breathing for a couple times before the last time I attempted it, where I did hear a whooshing sound in my ears after my last set (the sound of air getting let out of something, like a leak in a balloon). I was scared it was tinnitus that developed, and even though it went away after a while I stopped and haven’t done it. Maybe now that I know that the whooshing is normal I will start up again, but if I shouldn’t please let me know.
My guess is that you would be fine to try it again.
1 month ago and audiologist still wearing cable headphones not pods or Bluetooth. Love it
interesting observation. What do you think it means?
its somehow enjoyable listening to you talk
Thanks! Is that despite all the ringing in your ears?
@@sgcarney i actually dont notice it, but it is there.
Great video! I love your channel. Please publish your book in Brazilian Portuguese, especially The Wedge!!!!!
Thanks. If a Brazilian publisher gets in touch I'm all ears.
Thanks for this very informative video 🙏. I'm a few days into trying out the breathing technique. First few times got the "white noise" effect. Figured it was similar to the tingly feeling you get on the holds & it goes away. However, on my 3rd day during the post-retention phase (15s head rush) I got like an implosion effect (or like a sudden unbalancing) & intense ringing on round 3. I knew that didn't feel "right" & google got me to here. Luckily, I always meditate for 30min immediately after & it went away after my meditation. However, from now on I will monitor my body closely. It can be permanent o_O? I will not do that post-retention phase any longer - not safe imho.
My ears ring but I put it down to Motorhead!
Seriously, I’m at an age where I’d get it anyway. And if it was giving me slight ear issues….I’d still do it!
Key word slight. Many get it on a life crushing level
It’s interesting I just googled Wim Hof Tinnitus because my tinnitus isn’t nearly as bad after a few rounds of the breath work, although I didn’t do the advanced version you described.
It’s from a lack of oxygen to a part of the brain. There was a study at University of Illinois maybe Beckmann Institute and they did MRIs on people with tinnitus and found the area similar in all of them. There’s a video on TH-cam on tinnitus and blood flow in the brain from Beckman Institute (I think but can’t remember if that was the channel). I think it’s not good to starve the brain of oxygen probably. Idk.
If you find the study let me know. Sounds interesting.
@@sgcarney you’d probably just have to search for the video I described and it had the study in there but I’m sorry I’m not going to look for it for you. Good luck.
I doubt the "Wim Hof tinnitus" is the same as the tinnitus from loud noise. My left ear has been clogged ever sinse getting this, and my hearing is perfect. It reminds me of barotrauma induced tinnitus, only it doesnt go away. Its the exact same feeling i experienced 20 years ago, when taking a cable car from 1300moh to 3800moh, only then it just lasted for a few days. I fear Wim Hof has forever changed my life in a really really bad way.
@@schmeltis interesting. I wonder if part of it worsening is an Eustachian tube dysfunction. Did your audiologist differentiate types of tinnitus? I’m still learning a lot and this is the first I’ve heard of barotrauma induced tinnitus. Glad you shared this.
@@tnijoo5109 yeah i have no hearing or balance issues. I have always had a little trouble equalizing on airplanes etc, goes with the family. When i do the Valsalva i can feel my right ear opening and air go out, the same thing doesnt happen on my clogged left side. Im reluctant to surgery, as i have heard other Wim Hof Victims had no effect of balloon dilatation. I cant understand why the so called WHM is popular, when so many people experience severe side effects.
Still cant believe doing this for 3 weeks have messed my up permanently, but i fear it, its been 9 months. Maybe ill recover at one point. At least😢 im 45, i sometimes think about if this happened in my 20s, it could potentially ruin my life. I should have known though, holding your breath on a daily basis is a very unnatural thing to do.
Im also a little embarressed for believing this crap, guess i have a weak point when it comes to my own health. 30 people dead, and thousands messed up like me, and people still doing this method.
Wim Hoff changed my life, in a very bad negative way. In fact, if I was not able to habituate to this tinnitus that I now have had for 2 years, I would say he completely ruined my life. If I had known beforehand of the possible side effects and negative implications that could possibly happen, I never would have participated in his guided breath work meditation!! After three rounds, and the retention breath hold a 15 seconds,Mr eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Entered into my life. It was total mental torture at the beginning. My sympathetic nervous system was activated into fight for flight mode high red alert 24/7! And is still with me to this day. I do believe that Barotrauma plays into this as well, from the pressure build up of energy that went straight to my head. Going on 2 years of this now and I have learned how to habituate with masking sounds. At night trying to sleep is where I have the most difficult time. The quieter, the room, and the environment. The more noticeable the frequency is in my head. And you are exactly right to say that Tinnitus is not an ear problem but that it is in the brain. That is the absolute truth. Anyways, I am trying to figure out ways to activate my parasympathetic nervous system where it will be more dominant and override the sympathetic side of fight or flight. One thing I can say, and I keep telling myself this. Is that if I can get through this mental torture that I endure every day 24/7, I can conquer almost anything. So far that is what has kept me going. I have to keep myself distracted, with neuroplasticity, and tinnitus retraining therapy. That has been most helpful with this life altering situation. Wim off should be ashamed of himself for ruining people's lives, and then having the audacity to laugh about it. Retribution is inevitable for those who do evil ,and harm others. The irony here of it all is that, I was doing the Wim Hoff breath work to reduce my stress levels, and anxiety. And now I have more stress and anxiety in my life than I ever have because of this injury to my brain.
Have your symptoms settled at all? 🙏🏻
@@tomf4612NOPE! I have just learned to accept it as part of my life. And try not to let it bother me too much. I stay distracted. And I take a sleep aid so I can get some rest hopefully one day it will be disappear completely. But I am not going to let it control my life, I have too much to live for. 😊
@@chrisjennings1384 thanks for getting back to me dude. I am the same - and I think it's also caused eustachian tube issues. Are you in the UK?
I also have the same mindset as you - way too much to live for despite the challenges. 🙏🏻
@@tomf4612 Hi Tom! No, I currently reside in the USA. Same here, I believe I have Eustachian tube damage, and baro trauma injury from the guided meditation breath work exercises. I followed doing Wim Hoff method. Method. My symptoms never existed until after the third round of breathing, and the 15 second retention breath hold I believe is what caused the damage. Because of the pressure build up of energy that is pushed into the head and brain area. Are you familiar with Dr. Ben Thompson? He's an audiologist who is well known. He has a great TH-cam channel and keeps people updated on the latest technologies and medical devices etc.... a recent development of something called the Leniers device has been developed, and is showing very promising results. By the FDA and they are slowly putting it into audiologist clinics as a form of therapy to reduce and even eliminate the issue of tinnitus.Waiting for it to get too my area...Also TRT- tinnitus retraining therapy, and neuroplasticity are also helpful. That is what has helped me along the way of this two and a half year journey of Mr. Eeeeeeeeeeeeee taking up residence inside my head. Anyways, stay strong my friend, and never give up!
I have suffered from tinnitus for years, got worse the past 5 years.
High pitch sound, it alters frequency when i open my mouth.
Worse at night, probably less background noise. I would be in a relax state.
That sounds pretty typical of tinnitus.
Hi Mr.Carney, Thank you so much for the great video! I have also done Wim Hof breathing, but I also started getting extreme pressure and a feeling of fullness in my ears which is worse than the tinnitus symptoms. Do you think the pressure in my ears is also related to energy or is it a physical condition caused by the eustachian tube?I also did Baloon dilation about a few weeks ago which cost me over 10k but there is no improvement yet, so I need clarification about the cause of the fullness, which occurred on the day I did the Wim Hof breathing about 10 months ago. Any help or suggestion is appreciated.
It sort of sounds like you were doing one of the pressure moves and might have hurt something physically in your ear. But I definitely don't have enough information to know. Maybe it's just a feeling?
Hey. Did your symptoms settle at all? If be interested to chat as I have similar. 🙏🏻
@@tomf4612 Hi Tom, would love to chat further on this with you, or anyone else that is dealing with the same issues. I have concluded, that I have endured barotrauma, and quite possibly some eustation tube injury from these WIM HOFF breath work exercises. It is also called "Tummo" breathing in yoga circles of influence. Not really sure if this has anything to do with it or not but I thought I should mention. That I went on vacation last week up into some high elevation areas of the mountains. I immediately noticed that my ears did NOT pop or pressurize when they should have. My wife's ears popped, and pressure equalized., but mine never did. That's what leads me to believe Eustachian Tube is related somehow to this problem. Anyways just thought I would throw that out there.Also started dealing with some vertigo issues mid spring, but they have subsided through specific exercises of Physical Therapy training. Don't know if this is related or not? Any feedback would be appreciated.Mr.eeeeeeeeeeee still remains in my head to this day. Thank you
I developed tinnitus during Wim Hof breathing excersises, got ear ringing just after my second session. First the ringing was very loud for about the minute, then it reduced but unfortunately never went away. It was 2 days ago, I wasn't even worried much, but when I started reading reddit, I found numerous post about it getting permanent. Gonna wait few weeks and see but it's hard to think positive after reading so many stories. I wish I never saw this metod on yt, but really, all comments were so positive, that I did not even consider fucking breathing excersises can do any permanent damage. The irony is, I tried to find relief from other bad conditions and feelings doing those excersises, and ended up developing something even worse and potentialy for life. Still can't believe it...
Hi there, just wanted to give you words of encouragement. I received severe tinnitus after doing Wim Hoff breath work, going on two years now. Been to numerous ENTs to no avail. The ringing is in your head, not your ears. Just wanted to save you the trouble of going to all different doctors. I believe that I sustained barotrauma trauma, and possibly brain injury from this PRESSURE BUILD UP of ENERGY IN MY HEAD during the 15 second retention breath hold,of the guided meditation of WIM HOFF breath work. It is also known as tumo breathing in yoga. Very extreme. Learn to activate your parasympathetic side of your nervous system to keep you calm. That is the best advice I can give to keep you from. Going insane. Are having abouts of panic attacks and anxiety because the noise will not go away. Use masking sounds and stay distracted and even take a sleep aid if needed. I take something called instasleep. It is all natural. No side effects whatsoever and does not leave you feeling brain foggy in the mornings. Hope this helps. Stay strong, and stay in control. Do not let it conquer you. God bless
Thank you but I still kind of want to believe it eventually goes away. I know, I'm naive. But the feeling is so bad. About A week after initial symptoms, I developed ear fullness, hyperacusis and sinus/headache. Feels like I can't unclog my ears. All this makes me anxious, and I have already had anxiety before starting whb due to other chronic illness (this is the irony - wanted to realax in order to help my symptoms, but instead got everything worse). Hate this guy and wish him all the worst, he ruined so many people's lives and doesn't even give a fk.
@@loco79PL Yes!! Same here, ear fullness ect... I haven't had hypercussis symptoms yet but I have experienced vertigo. If you have hypersensitivity to this ringing noise or other noises, the worst thing you can do is to stay in an isolated, quiet environment. It will only make it worse. Stay distracted, get outdoors. Enjoy the environment, in quiet settings is when it becomes intolerable and a tyrant inside your head. Are you familiar with Dr. Ben Thompson audiologist? If not, I highly advise. Looking up information on his TH-cam channel. He keeps you updated on all the latest technology devices and so forth that are battling this problem. He even has tinnitus himself. There is a device called Leniers that has been developed recently and is showing very promising results. It has even been approved by the FDA. They are slowly starting to introduce this device inside of audiology clinics. It is a form of therapy. This may help you. TRT tinnitus retraining therapy, and Neuro plasticity are very helpful too to adjusting to this new way of life, hopefully that will only be temporary. I have not lost hope yet. I do believe there is a cure but I am going on two and a half years now of suffering from this debilitating mental torture. In regards to WimHoff, I understand that he is on the run somewhere out in Australia. His empire is starting to crumble because of all of the lawsuits and litigation that is bringing him down. I also understand that 13 people have died from following this Wim Hoff method. Retribution is inevitable for those who do harm to others and have the audacity to laugh about it. Stay strong. Don't give up. I also like you, was following these guided meditation, breath work exercises to rid myself of stress! The irony here is I am now more stressed out than I have ever been because of this debilitating Mr.eeeeeeeeeeeeee that now resides inside my head. Also, I was under the impression that this type of breath work was a form of bodily cleansing of toxins, and bacteria, and viruses etc.... I was doing this as a form of protecting myself from getting Covid-19. 🙄
@@chrisjennings1384 Maybe ginkgo biloba help you, since it activate blood circulation on brain.
I have Menieres - so far only in my (now deaf as a result) left ear, loud constant tinnitus is one of the symptoms.. I've found doing the WHM and other styles of breath work actually alleviate it and drop the volume. I do eat healthy and keep fit though so I think my parasympathetic control is in check.. just an alternative angle for you ☺️
That’s great news! Everyone responds differently and you need try many things to see what works.
I have tinnitus too, and it started after I got acquainted with the excercises of WHM. Today I also found out that I score high on the test of hyperventilation, which means you don't have enough CO2 in your blood. Maybe that might be the cause of my tinnitus ( 'the hum' ). I drink a lot of water now and quit with the daily vodka.
Interesting. Is your tinnitus getting betteR?
Is there any chance that the Wim Hof method is just exhasterbating the symptoms of Eustachian tube dysfunction, by causing an even stronger dysregulation of the pressure system in the ear, causing (temporary) hearing loss which causes tinnitus?
Could be!
listening to this video gave me tinitus. we'll see how long it lasts. but it makes me wonder how much the temporary tinitus of breath work induces a more durable awareness of an existing tinitus that was previously bypassed in the brain. Signals that don't vary fade, but if they do vary over time then they can reenter awareness. i forget the biochemical mechanism but it has a name. and simply trying to notice tinitus might be enough variation to induce it (as in my case just now).
Really? Just listening to it did?
@@sgcarney yes. it's gone now. I'd say I haven't noticed having an ear ringing in at least a year. it was slightly alarming. If I stop and focus on it for a minute I can bring it back. it's a very light ringing and so maybe is early tinnitus, and hence why I can forget about it easily.
You missed what Wim said. The method is
30 breaths
1 min exhale hold
15 second inhale hold.
Wim says try without the inhale hold at the end of the exhale hold.
I have tried to time the inhale hold (15) on my own or just lost track of time because I’m so relaxed and probably over done it and that’s probably where my tinnitus comes from.
It’s like I was addicted to that intense relaxation I didn’t want that 15 seconds to end.
I will try what Wim said for 1 week and report back on my findings.
That's the basic breathing method.
We are in agreement that is the basic technique. You just didn’t reply to Wim’s solution of no inhale hold helping with the tinnitus.
In any case we are in agreement on the conclusion!
@@sgcarney 14:33 14:46
Been doing the WMH (cold showers, YT breathing exercice) since October, so that marks three months now, and felt incredible.
I've started noticing ringing in my right ear during my silent meditations after the breathing exercises and sometimes at night in bed. At first I believed it had been from all the music I've listened to over the years, the concerts and FPS games I played. After reading these comments and the WMH book (literally the suspicious last section at the end) I feel the method is to blame most.
I will completely stop with the breathing exercices and go back to my old meditation. I'll do a check-up at the doctor and do a test but I'm afraid it won't do much.
If Wim Hoff has heard numerous complaints about this and chooses to neglect them, I feel deeply disappointed in him. He always struck me as an honest man but this is very sad.
I will come back to this post in a few months or a year. Wishing you all the best online people. Stay strong. ✨🙏✨
Did it get better after you stopped? I’m experiencing similar issues and am wondering if it’s the breathing exercises or my videogame/music passion. I am so scared and hope that I didn’t ruin my hearing irreversibly.
@@webby8950 I went to a specialist and did tests, turns out I indeed have tinnitus but it's very liveable. Yes, it got better after I stopped with the breathing exercises. At moments, I don't even hear it, which I'm really happy about!
She also said that it's cause of the build up of listening to tons of music, gaming with headsets and loud concerts without earplugs. She also recommended to wear earplugs when going to concerts or adjust the volume when you play games because it can make it worse.
My advice: do not worry too much and stay away from the breathing exercises. I sometimes do them mildly but without the breath holds.
I read on reddit that this is caused by the squeeze head, when you put air into lungs and pressing it to the head for about 10 seconds on the recovery time. I think that if you don't do that, MAYBE you are safe. Still don't watched all the video to see if it says something related.
No not the squeeze. I didnt do the push-to -the head thing, stilm got permanent tinnitus from it. Probably happens to relatively few, but stay away if you want to play it safe!
@@schmeltis Thanks for the information. Will take a take from everything, except meditation and research about Buteyko safety. But what do you think about eliminate the recovery breath hold (10 seconds)? I really got depressed when I have any healh problem.
Had a strange tingling every where right under stoach for a long time doing this even afterwards did I do it wrong or should I keep doing it?
What is a stoach?
Ringing in ears is normal if you having spiritual shift,it is often mistaken for tinnitus.
That’s one hypothesis
It surely is one...
@@sgcarney I speak from personal experience.
Please expound, and offer insight if you have some.@@murraysands1468
I have had tinnitus for about 4 years now from the wim hof method, still has not gone away. Not sure what to do. 😞
I’m sorry to hear that. Have you gone to a doctor?
@@sgcarney yeah, went to an ear specialist and everything, did all the hearing tests and there seems to be no damage, so it's just so weird/annoying, they said it might just be one of those things that goes away by itself, but still hasn't. 😕
@@sgcarney you should really really try to warn people about this side effect, its NOT worth the risc, although it seemingly happen to very few. For many its not only tinnitus, but other ear symptoms as well, as i think youve heard, and its a direct consequence of the breath holding. It really affects your quality of life to the extreme, and there should be a big warning about this in the beginning of all the instructional videos. Its quite paradoxal that Wim focus this much on mental health and suicide, when the side effects of this method can make you crazy. Ive read on several forums that people have gotten anxiety and depression from the side effects of this method. I really hope Wim knows about this, if he has any empathy at all, i cant understand how he can continue to promote this method without a BIG warning. Only positive thing i can think of is that Im 45, so at least many things are in place, and ive had many good years. It really makes me sad that this probably happens to 20y olds with life ahead of them. Im strong, with no other health issues and a good mental health, but its extremely hard to habituate to this. This has to stop!
Yes. I have been raising awareness. This video is one of my efforts.
@@sgcarney yeah i dont think people understand how hard this side effect is. I really dont understand that Wim doesnt take this very seriously if he has any empathy at all. This has been extremely tough for me and my family. Breath holding isnt a natural thing that everybody should do. Keep up the good work!
I got tinnitus from listening to binaural beats. Stopped and the ringing in my ears stopped too.
Interesting.
Any thoughts on the role of cold showers in creating these issues? I used to always have cold showers but stopped when I started getting blocked ears due to not being in a steamy shower in the morning. I wonder if the pressure from the breath hold combined with the cold showers could be creating an issue.
I’ve noticed that sometimes cold exposure will trigger tmj for me. So definitely possible.
I think (almost) everyone has "Tinnitus" to a degree. When i think of it there are many times ive noticed sounds in my head when there is total silence. When you dont fear it, it goes away, like you dont hear the refrigerator or the wall clock. The brain tunes it out when its not dangerous. I think fear is an important component here. I got very aware of the sound after doing some WHF, and when i got afraid of having permanent tinnitus, it got worse. Then you google it and start visiting forums and start a deadly negative feedback loop. For some days now i have barely thought about it, because i havent given it any attention. When im in a silent room and "search" for the noise its there, but it has probably always been there.
I think this is a bit like people who have permanent trouble sleeping. If you get stressed about it of course it only gets worse. Everyone has a day or periods where sleep isnt optimal, but the key is to be relaxed about it.
Really don't like this comment, don't make people feel guilty for a serious health issue they got from this practice. After having the tinnitus for year on year, you completely forget about the fear/wim hof method all together, yet the ringing is still there!
@@lachycummings3765 yeah im sorry, wrote that comment way too early. Wim Hof method has #^@# me up completely too. Did it only for about 3 weeks, and ive gotten all the symptoms it seems. The tinnitus is actually not a big problem, its low for me, and doesnt affect sleep. Mostly i dont hear it daytime. Biggest problem for me is the constant fullness in my left ear, which came a bit later. This fullness also affects how i hear my own voice on the left side. Fortunately the hyperacusis and MEM is gone, and the tinnitus is improving. Of course i regret this stupid method, but at the same time, it seemingly happen to very very few, probably way lower than 1%. So i have to respect all the people that claim this method has helped them. My life was fine, so i didnt need this method, so of course i regret it. I sure hope this fullness will dissapear at some point. It feels like some kind of barotrauma, which is weird, because i didnt even push to the head, so didnt create much pressure in the head. Last ENT said that when im not dizzy and have perfect hearing, it cant be a serious trauma, so have to hope that it gets better over time.
Excellent, i have tinnitus and it coincided with Him Hop first experience fews years ago but I never make the relationship, I am sim pathetic nerveus and anxiety caractère ! I understand now that my caractère wasn’t compatible with this sort of breath exercise, I think that a person should be prepare with a solid parasympathetic system and a healthy constitution before entering the Wim Hof method, it’s a very good tool but it’s important to practice the opposite after like the PatrickMcKeown method to reinstalling the parasympathetic system! Thank you very much it was very lighting.
I hope it helps!
I have tinnitus. Since my army time, 30 years ago. It was caused by a tank firing not allowed within the break. It will never leave me again until the nerves that have been damaged by that shot are healed again. So i cant't tell if it is going away after i stop the breathwork. The tone doesen't change while breathworking. My tone is like in this video at 4min14: th-cam.com/video/eqwBjR63O9w/w-d-xo.html
At 1:08 you said something that i experienced myself. I use tinnitus as an alarmsystem to determine if i have an illness that is going to establish itself inside of me. I can "hear" it from the ringing :)
Mine is around 4000hz too. I noticed it first in 2010 and back then it made me feel panicky and claustrophobic. I don't know whether it had been there for much longer without my noticing it, but I can say for sure that the more I concentrated on it, the worse it seemed. I should add that I have also lost 80% of the higher frequencies (a virus, long ago...before my 30s, even).
Now, it's still there all the time; I can even hear it over loud music. But I'm not at all bothered by it. That came as a result of acceptance. The more I focused on it, and resisted, the worse I felt.
I'm intrigued by your last paragraph...
@@alicejwho In my case I feel the ringing is becoming more intense if my body is infected by some illness. Maybe other persons even hear a change in the frequency.
@@Halfdar that's interesting. I need to improve my interoception skills!
Because you learn to hear the energy of thoughts outside of its vehicle.
Interesting thought. I can already feel the energy behind thoughts and words. But to hear it is another dimension to get aware of. Thx!
I got tinnitus from just about 1 week of wim hof. I think it's because of the cold shower rarher than the breathing. When i do the breathing, the tinnitus goes away.
Not.