pharmacology 15 ibuprofen may be helpful. Taking too much acetaminophen, which is in many over-the-counter drugs, can in mild cases cause nausea, appetite loss, and vomiting. The cochlea contains specialized hair cells that are much like the strings of various lengths in a piano. Apparently it too may cause tinnitus and other signs and symptoms of cinchonism.
Ibuprofen is both a prescription drug and an OTC drug. Such high levels of salicylate can occur when someone accidentally or intentionally takes too much aspirin, either short-term or over time. When tinnitus develops in someone taking aspirin it usually means he or she has taken too much, whether they know it or not. When you stop taking the drug altogether, or cut back on the dose so blood levels are no longer too high, the tinnitus disappears.
Overall, however, and based on the literature, the risk of tinnitus due to taking recommended nonprescription doses of ibuprofen is far less than the risk with aspirin. -- going on too or instead.