You could have a common reaction when you first notice that ringing in your ears: pretend that it’s no big deal. You continue your regular habits: you have a chat with family, go to the store, and make lunch. All the while, you’re trying to force that ringing in your ear to the back of your mind. Because there is one thing you feel certain of: your tinnitus will fade away by itself.
After several more days of unrelenting ringing and buzzing, however, you start to have doubts.
This situation happens to others as well. sometimes tinnitus stop by itself, and at other times it will stick around and that’s the reason why it’s a challenging little condition.
When Tinnitus is Likely to Go Away on Its Own
Around the world, almost everybody has had a bout of tinnitus because it’s extremely common. In nearly all cases, tinnitus is basically temporary and will ultimately go away by itself. A rock concert is a good illustration: you go to your local stadium to see your favorite band and you discover, when you get home, that there is a ringing in your ears.
Within a few days the type of tinnitus related to injury from loud noise will usually disappear (but you realize that it’s just part of going to a loud concert).
Of course, it’s precisely this type of noise injury that, over time, can cause hearing loss to move from temporary (or acute, as they say) to chronic. One concert too many and you could be waiting a long, long time for your tinnitus to go away by itself.
When Tinnitus Doesn’t Seem to be Disappearing by Itself
If your tinnitus doesn’t decrease (either on its own or with help) within the period of three months or so, the condition is then classified chronic tinnitus (this does not, however, imply that you should wait three months to talk to a specialist about lingering ringing, buzzing, or thumping in your ears).
Something like 5-15% of people around the world have reported symptoms of chronic tinnitus. The precise causes of tinnitus are still not well known even though there are some known connections (like loss of hearing).
Normally, a quick cure for tinnitus will be unidentifiable if the triggers aren’t obvious. There is a strong possibility that your tinnitus won’t disappear on its own if you have been hearing the ringing for more than three months. In those circumstances, there are treatment options available (like cognitive behavioral therapy or noise-canceling devices) that can help you manage symptoms and preserve your quality of life.
It’s Significant to Know What The Cause of Your Tinnitus is
It becomes much simpler to mitigate the symptoms of tinnitus when you are able to recognize the underlying causes. For example, if your tinnitus is produced by a persistent, bacterial ear infection, treatment with an antibiotic will usually solve both problems, leading to a healthy ear and crystal-clear hearing.
Some causes of acute tinnitus could include:
- A blockage in the ear or ear canal
- Eardrum damage (such as a perforated eardrum)
- Chronic ear infections
- Meniere’s disease (this usually has no cure and is often associated with chronic tinnitus)
- Hearing loss (again, this is often associated with chronic tinnitus)
The Big Question…Will my Tinnitus Ever Subside?
In general, your tinnitus will recede on its own. But the longer it lingers, the longer you hear tinnitus noises, the more likely it becomes that you’re experiencing chronic tinnitus.
You can convince yourself there’s nothing wrong and hope that the ringing will just go away. But at some point, your tinnitus may become unpleasant and it might become hard to focus on anything else. And in those instances, you may want a treatment plan more thorough than crossing your fingers.
In most instances, though, as a matter of fact, throughout most of your life, your tinnitus will usually go away on its own, a normal reaction to a loud environment (and your body’s method of telling you to stay away from that environment in the future). Only time will tell if your tinnitus is acute or chronic.