@fedup
Many people that experience intrusive tinnitus to the point where they have had to seek help at ENT often ask: “will this noise ever go away?”
Tinnitus books and articles advise people that within the first 6 months to one year and sometimes a little longer, there is a good chance that it will go away or a person will habituate to the condition where it no longer interferes too much with their quality of life. Sometimes this is achieved with the help of a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist that specialises in tinnitus treatment and management. This can be: counselling, learning relaxation exercises and therapies such as CBT or TRT to name a few.
The most common cause of tinnitus is exposure to loud noise. Anyone wanting to know if this is true, just ask some of the members at tinnitustalk what caused their tinnitus and the reply will often be: Listening to loud music through headphones or attending clubs and other venues of entertainment where loud music was played. If an underlining medical condition is causing the tinnitus, then I'm not sure whether the six months to a year time frame still applies.
Based on my own personal experience and people that I have counselled whose tinnitus was caused by exposure to loud noise. Within six months to a year sometimes a little longer, they have habituated to the tinnitus and for some it has completely gone away.
Fedup, has had tinnitus since April 2016 and has mentioned there are periods where the tinnitus is no longer heard. Completely silent. I believe this is a good sign due to the fact that he’s within the 12 months time frame of habituating to the condition or it completely going away. I chose my words carefully and said he: he stands to make a good recovery; I didn’t say the tinnitus would be cured, although it might be only time will tell.
IF fedup listens and follows my suggestions I stand by what I’ve said:
It is important that you use sound enrichment at night; I cannot express that enough if you want to get better, and I'm sure that you do. If I were in your situation, I'd buy an Oasis sound machine to give myself the best chance possible of recovery. You now know what it's like when tinnitus is loud and intrusive, hopefully this will soon be a distant memory. Please don't ever be tempted to use headphones again.
I hope I have answered this question and would like to put the matter to rest.
Michael
PS: Tinnitus is experienced differently for each person. In 2008 my tinnitus increased to insurmountable levels and I had to return to ENT for help. It took me four years to habituate for the second time.
