Ok. I think drinking alcohol also is somehow linked to tinnitus for me

The short version: the evidence that alcohol triggers or worsens tinnitus is thin but plausible, and the mechanism is real.

The best direct evidence comes from a 2016 study of nearly 15,000 young US adults. People who reported tinnitus in the past year had about 1.5 times higher odds of also having a voice disorder, and that association held after adjusting for other factors [1]. But this is a cross-sectional snapshot, not a test of whether alcohol causes tinnitus. It tells you the two conditions travel together, not which one comes first.

The mechanism that could link alcohol to tinnitus is real. Alcohol is a neurotoxin that damages the inner ear. Zebrafish studies show that alcohol exposure during development shrinks the hearing organs, reduces hair cell numbers, and impairs auditory function [2]. Human studies of fetal alcohol syndrome find that 30-35% of affected children have sensorineural hearing loss [3]. In adults, alcohol's breakdown product acetaldehyde is directly toxic to nerve cells [5, 6]. Alcohol also disrupts blood flow and increases oxidative stress, both of which can damage the delicate hair cells of the inner ear.

The 2019 Netherlands Longitudinal Study on Hearing tracked 1,349 adults over 10 years and found that alcohol use did not significantly modify the rate of hearing decline [4]. But that study measured speech recognition in noise, not tinnitus. Tinnitus and hearing loss are related but not identical. A person can have tinnitus with normal hearing, and vice versa.

What this means for you: the evidence does not prove alcohol causes your tinnitus, but it does not rule it out either. The biological pathways are there. The simplest test is your own experience. If you notice the ringing gets louder or starts within hours of drinking, that is a strong signal. The mechanism is plausible enough that you should trust your observation. The burden of proof is on the drink, not on you.

My call: the link between alcohol and tinnitus is biologically plausible but not proven in human studies. Your personal observation is the most relevant evidence. Confidence: low.