The ringing just won’t subside. That high pitched ringing in your ear has been nagging you ever since yesterday morning and it still hasn’t gone away. You recognize the sound is tinnitus, but you’re beginning to wonder exactly how permanent tinnitus usually is.
Tinnitus can be brought about by damage to the stereocilia inside your ears (they’re the very small hairs that pick up air vibrations which your brain then turns into intelligible sound). Normally, too much overly loud noise is the cause. That’s why you notice tinnitus most commonly after, as an example, going to a concert, eating at a noisy restaurant, or sitting next to a deafening jet engine while you’re traveling.
Under Typical Circumstances, How Long Will Tinnitus Persist?
Tinnitus can’t be cured. But tinnitus usually doesn’t continue indefinitely. How long your tinnitus persists depends on a large number of factors, including your general health and the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
But if you just returned home from a noisy day of traveling and you find your ears ringing, a couple of days should be enough for you to observe your tinnitus fading away. 16 to 48 hours typically is how long tinnitus will last. But often, symptoms can last as long as a couple of weeks. Further exposure to loud sounds could also trigger tinnitus to flare up again, effectively resetting the clock.
If tinnitus lingers and is impacting your quality of life, you need to schedule an appointment.
Why is Tinnitus Sometimes Permanent?
Usually, tinnitus is short-lived. But in some cases it can be permanent. Especially when the cause of tinnitus is something outside the mundane When it comes to intensity and origin. Some illustrations are as follows:
- Hearing loss: Typically, tinnitus and hearing loss are joined at the hip. So, no matter what causes your hearing loss, you may also end up developing (or noticing) irreversible tinnitus along with it.
- Repeated exposure: After one rock show, your ears will ring for a couple of days but frequent subjection will lead to far more serious consequences. Repeated exposure to loud noises can result in irreversible hearing damage, including tinnitus.
- Traumatic Brain Trauma (TBI): The majority of the processing of sound happens in the brain. In some cases, a traumatic brain injury (such as a concussion) may cause tinnitus because those processors begin to misfire.
Permanent tinnitus is significantly less common than its more short-term counterpart. But there are still millions of Us citizens every year who are treated for lasting, or chronic, tinnitus symptoms.
How Can You Get Your Tinnitus to Subside?
It doesn’t matter if your tinnitus is short lived or long lived, you may want to get relief as soon as you can. There is no cure for tinnitus but you can do certain things to minimize the symptoms (though they may last only so long):
- Avoid loud noises. Attending another concert, hopping on another flight, or turning up the volume on your earpods another notch might extend your symptoms or double down on their severity.
- Find a way to mask the sound: In some cases, utilizing a white noise device (including a humidifier or fan) can help you drown out the noise of tinnitus and, thus, ignore the symptoms (and, you know, get a restful night’s sleep in the process).
- Try to keep calm: perhaps it sounds somewhat… abstract, but staying calm can really help keep your tinnitus under control, mostly because increased blood pressure can induce tinnitus flare-ups.
- Wear earplugs (or earmuffs): If you cannot avoid loud situations, then safeguarding your hearing is the next best option. (And, really, whether you suffer from tinnitus or not, you need to wear hearing protection.)
Regrettably, none of these methods will cure long term tinnitus. But it can be equally relevant to manage and diminish your symptoms.
How Long Before Your Tinnitus Disappears?
Your tinnitus, in most circumstances, will recede by itself. Just wait the 16-48 hours and your hearing should return to normal. However, if your tinnitus lingers, you’ll want to look for a solution. Discovering a workable treatment is the best way to ultimately get some relief. Get your hearing examined if you think you have tinnitus or hearing loss.