Chronic noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a major cause of age-related hearing loss and sudden-onset loud noise exposure, which both can directly cause tinnitus. There have been many studies over the last few decades that show there are compounds which can prevent or at least reduce the severity of NIHL.

Magnesium is involved in many metabolic processes in the body and magnesium therapy is well-documented to be effective for other pathologies.  There are reports that show magnesium is able to alleviate the damage caused by NIHL through limiting damage to the cochlear hair cells.

In a recent experiment on guinea pigs that were exposed to loud 170dB  sounds, it was found that one month treatment with magnesium significantly attenuates NIHL [[i]].

Similar protective properties of magnesium have been found in humans and it appears that magnesium supplements may well be a safe form of therapy to alleviate sensory cell death in the cochlear. However, there seem to be no direct reports that show whether this translates into tinnitus reduction, and the beneficial neuroprotective effects have only been studied in acoustic trauma sufferers with acute onset tinnitus.