Researchers in one study said that impaired blood flow to the ear may be one of the main causes of ringing in the ears known as tinnitus. Doctors examined 82 people with mild to moderate tinnitus that began for no apparent reason and had persisted in one ear for at least two weeks. Participants were not dizzy and did not have significant hearing loss. Twenty-four people took 150 mg of Pycnogenol per day, 34 took 100 mg of Pycnogenol per day, and 24 took no treatment. The three groups were similar in sex and age.
After four weeks, while there were no changes in the non-treatment group, both Pycnogenol groups had much better blood flow to the ear and reported far less severe symptoms. The higher dose group improved more in both measures than the lower dose group.