A Collection of Success Stories from Around the Web

This is a collection of success stories found. I don't know who actually compiled these but I tried to copy and paste them here.

• I had tinnitus really bad in my late teens. Then I stopped playing music really loud and stopped listening through headphones and in a couple years it became pretty much nonexistent... I guess the body can heal itself if you give it a chance, at least maybe if you're young. I'm almost thirty now and it's back (probably due to the studio environment), but almost nonexistent unless I concentrate on listening for it.
  
  
• Wow interesting thread... I had pretty bad bout of tinnitus which started about a year ago...I was on medication at the time (anti-inflammatories) because of a bad case a sciatica...that plus general exhaustion probably triggered my tinnitus...anyway, I've mentioned it to my acupuncturist who suffered from tinnitus himself for quite awhile and after a few session where he concentrated on getting rid of it, I'm happy to say that I'm cured... I'm so relieved that it didn't become a chronic problem...I know there's a lot of different causes for tinnitus, and of course it can came back, but acupuncture can really help and put the tinnitus under control...the sooner you get a treatment the better.
  
  
• Mine was caused by mega stress at work and a 8 hour high volume mixing session with violins...duuuuhhh. The methodology the less you stress and pay attention to it the less you hear it worked for me....but do see a doctor asap after you get it as either an IV drip or a boost of cortisone gets rid of it in many cases. Also no smoking, no alcohol, no stress, sport and meditation has helped me to get it 90% gone, I only notice it now when I look for it.
  
  
• I had tinnitus about 3 yrs ago, after the initial panic I just tried not to focus on it, and after about a year managed to forget I "had it".... actually even listening for it now I don't notice it.
  
  
• I had tinnitus for almost two years--and then it went away. Sure was annoying though--especially when I was trying to go to sleep! I found that sleeping with the affected ear DOWN helps to minimize the sound so that it can be ignored. I didn't do anything special to lose it either...just noticed one day that it was gone. Maybe it took that long to heal whatever it was that was wrong?
  
  
• Yes, my tinnitus has gone away! About 25 years ago, I had it all the time, perhaps due to playing in a big band with powerful trombones playing behind me. Changing to different bands helped but the biggest factor was to stay out of the direct blast of loud trumpets and trombones. Perhaps aging and retiring from a day job helped also.
  
  
• Stop playing super loud music nightly. Learn relaxation techniques so you don't grind your teeth (any stress in the area can reduce circulation). Take ginkgo. Had it diagnosed some years ago. Did the above. Now when I wake up I can actually hear silence …
  
  
• When mine started, I found life really hard. I went to the people at tinnitus.org who completely sorted me.
  
  
• The idea they made me see is that it's the reaction to tinnitus that's the problem, not the sound itself. Because of a very loud noise I once experienced, I started hearing a ringing that was already there-the brain is a noisy, electric place. The brain was just searching hard for the root of the loud noise. Problem is, you can't let tinnitus drift away until you relax with it-because it's that reaction that sustains it. My tinnitus has gone, because I never notice it.
  
  
• Yes - Mine went away - Sadly - I don't know why. I took a multi-year break from music in the late 80's and came back as a studio player through about 2005 so I did get a break from the really loud stuff. These days though I've been playing live more than ever with no problems. And with mostly loud bands too. Who knows?... Maybe my definition of "loud" changed over those years. I certainly know that the speakers are smaller now, (even if there's lots more of them) and guitarists (usually) no longer use "stacks" on my gigs. Stage volumes seem to have come down since the ear-splitting set ups from the 70's and 80's. I've also taken to using one ear plug. I put it on the side that blocks the drums and guitars and now I can hear on stage as well...
  
  
• My sister had it twice but hasn't got it now. She first got it during pregnancy and secondly during a bad cold. Somebody I work with, their Grandpa had it for 5 months, it just went one day and hasn't come back. Somebody else I know had it for 5 weeks after an ear infection but it's now gone. My mum has had it for 40 years and although it hasn't gone for her she said it's hardly noticeable now, it's become part of her and it doesn't bother her like it did at first. Two of my work colleagues have had it for years and said you get used to it and it fades into the background so much so that it has no impact on your life anymore.
  
  
• I just recently discovered that both my dad and mother-in-law HAD tinnitus in the past-years and years ago. My Dad it on and off for a few years but never let it bother him too much and by the way he describes it, it was just like what I have which I allow to drive me insane from time to time. My mother-in-law thinks she had it continuously for at least a month maybe more. so that's great news.
  
  
• I had tinnitus many years ago and on 2 separate occasions with a few years in between each, the tinnitus did go. I had it for a few days the first time and then a few weeks the next.......and it went.....so hang in there
  
  
• I got tinnitus everytime I get an infection and Its went away everytime after I cleared the infection up, usually takes 2-12 weeks after my infection is gone. So there is hope, provided that you know what is causing this ring. Such as an infection or injury. I have ruptured my eardrum before and that left me with tinnitus for 3 months, but eventually my ear healed and shortly after regaining my hearing the ringing stopped.
  
  
• I have recently (6 months ago) acquired tinnitus from noise exposure. I'm still (greatly) struggling, but upon sharing my struggles with my family, I learned from my father that he had tinnitus for 5+ years when he was younger and that it eventually just 'went away.' He was a competitive rifle shooter and a pilot, so he was exposed to a lot of noise. It may take time, but my father is proof that tinnitus remission is possible.
  
  
• For those that don't know, I had noise induced tinnitus that started in April last year. It was constant and intrusive and didn't let up for 5 months or so then miraculously dropped to a more bearable level. Since then it just gradually improved over time. I'm still sensitive to loud, sharp or sudden noise so I'm really careful what I expose myself to now. In the last few weeks it's practically non-existent and is only noticeable in TOTAL silence. I realise that a certain level of tinnitus is present in everyone anyway and is normal. The tinnitus in my left ear is still slightly more noticeable with a high pitched but gentle hiss, but this varies from day to day and sometimes not present. So to those of you that are really worried about noise induced tinnitus, it can at least get better but you MUST be careful around noise and use protection where necessary! Esp. clubs and gigs .
  
  
• I've had Tinnitus three times in my life, first two times it went away after 6-12 months.
  
  
• I recently went through a bad patch in my life and due to living on my own was on my mobile phone for much longer periods than usual. I developed a whining sound in my ear during this time. I believe that my tinnitus is related to psychological problems from the stress that I was going through but the sound was always exacerbated after a period of time on the mobile. Fortunately, since stress has eased my tinnitus has disappeared. However, as I am getting my land line connection tomorrow I certainly am getting rid of my mobile phone!
  
  
• My tinnitus went away for several days this last weekend. I was nearly suicidal the first two months I had it. The last couple of months I felt like I was not really focusing on tinnitus much. Just when I'm to the point where it isn't really affecting my life, to my surprise last weekend completely went away for a few days. I even plugged my ears in a quiet room to listen for it and there was no sound. I've never had that happen before, it's always been there for the last 9 months. The bad news is that I kinda detect it again now in one ear but the sound is about 10% of what is was. I don't really allow myself to think about whether it is going away forever, that is kinda one of my mental rules for myself, so I am just enjoying the moment for however long it may last.
  
  
• I found 4 stories on the French web of people who have dealt with tinnitus for years. I wanted to post about them here. Funny enough none of these people posting were trying to sell any treatment which makes their stories more reliable to me. The first post was from a girl whose grand father aged 82 told her he had suffered for 4 years when he was young of tinnitus because of noise trauma during the war. He told her he always believed the noise in his ears would eventually go away and it just did.
  
  
• The second person posting said he had tinnitus after an ear operation. He had 60% hearing loss in his ear and had suffered with tinnitus for more than 5 years and quite suddenly his tinnitus vanished. It had been 2 months the tinnitus had vanished when he wrote the post and he still couldn't believe his luck as he had not done anything special.
  
  
• The 3rd person was a young women who had tinnitus after noise trauma for nearly 4 years. She felt she had been really avoiding noise and having a quiet life in the countryside when her tinnitus eventually disappeared. She was so surprised she almost felt like something was missing in her as she had gotten so used to her tinnitus.
  
  
• Somebody also posted about his ENT having told him he had followed a 17 years old who had tinnitus for nearly 2 years after a firecracker exploded next to his ear and whose tinnitus disappeared without any treatment.
  
  
• When I first got tinnitus I did the rounds of calling every teaching hospital in New York City,which is where I live, to find out it they had anyone who specialized in it. One of the places that I called was the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. I was connected to their Otolaryngology department and I spoke to the secretary of the department chairperson. The person to whom I spoke told me that she had had tinnitus but that one day, several years ago, it just disappeared.
  
  
• She is a friend of mine who burst her ears while diving and took the plane the next day to get back to Paris. (never do that). She felt awful with pain, vertigo, tinnitus. The ENT told her she had hearing loss in low and high range and that they had to wait and see. She told me everything sounded weird and mobile phones ringing were painful. She suffered from tinnitus for a month and a half. Today she feels fine and doesn't have tinnitus.. The funny thing is she wasn't aware her ears could have kept making noise forever. She was so busy on a theater tour she didn't give it much thought and the tinnitus went away…
  
  
• I got tinnitus 3 and a half years ago. When I spoke to all the "experts" they told me that if the Tinnitus didn't go away after a year then it would be here forever. After 1 year my Tinnitus was still horrible. The thoughts I had scared me, but I ploughed on. After 1 and a half years I started to notice some improvement. After 2 and a half years the Tinnitus was still getting better, but with setbacks (which scared the hell out of me) and very slow improvements. After the end of year 2 and the beginning of year 3 things started to change for the better. I have had significant improvement. It started all of a sudden and continues to this day. I have all the hope that my Tinnitus will be of no serious consequence in a year.
  
  
• Just heard of another happy ending story. A man who had constant tinnitus after receiving a hard punch on the ear. His tinnitus went away after 7 years! I also have more info on the grand-father who had tinnitus for 4 years. It was constant whistling for 3 years then off and on the 4th year, then it really disappeared apart for a few seconds when it still comes once or twice a year.
  
  
• I should add I have a friend who got tinnitus far before I did and hers went away spontaneously after about 6 months.
  
  
• I had tinnitus from WWII. I received a blast from mortar. My head was above the tube when the shell came out. I do not remember when the ringing stopped, it took quite a while. (A year or two.)
  
  
• My unbearable tinnitus started after acoustic trauma during military action in 1987. I was told it was permanent, incurable, etc.... After years of torment, it went overnight in 1995. I did not and never could overcome it. It simply went away. It got better literally as if a switch had been turned off.
  
  
• Hello I went to a Bruce concert here in jersey . i would say 3 years ago. I went with 3 other people. I saw one of the people I went to the concert a year ago. He said he got tinnitus from the concert. Saw him again last night you know what he said to me. He said his tinnitus left him. He said he had tinnitus since the concert and it drove him crazy. Last night he said the tinnitus left him. He said he doesn't hear it any more.
  
  
• A good friend, bass player, had tinnitus for 4 or 5 years, he "claims" that he cannot hear it anymore, no habituation, simply cannot hear it.

 

@jjflyman Thank you for posting all of these success stories...they give us hope that someday the T could disappear!

 

This isn't what the success stories page should look like. Great stuff.

 

@jjflyman I salute you Sir! What an absolute awesome post!

 

correction, this IS what the success stories page should look like. I swear that's what I made it, but it changed itself for some reason...

 

Thanks!

I found this on the web and saved it to a .doc file. I had to do a little work to get it to look correct, and some of the English is a little off (I assume these stories were from all over the world), but I think it gets the message across that lots of people have their Tinnitus fade away.

 

This is a great post about tinnitus remission and goes to show it really can go away even after many many years. If all those people used TinnitusTalk and posted their stories individually in the "success stories" section then that section would look a lot different and likely instill a lot more confidence in more people that are suffering with this this which in turn would actually aid them in their habituation and in many cases the T fading into the background - like a positive feedback loop.

All of this goes to show that it's true that the majority of people who have tinnitus and the majority of people who have tinnitus and it goes away are not on this forum or forums like this.

 

A nice success story in German language found on the net:
https://noisey.vice.com/de/article/ryg44j/tinitus-ohrengerauesch-hoelle-932

 

hello:

another story:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/tinnitus-is-not-incurable.1287792/?amp=1496409317

 

I have had Tinnitus for many years and like everyone else seeking a cure. I have tried acupuncture without success and recently tablets "Quiet Mind Plus" with no result. We keep searching.
John
Perth West Australia

 

mine has faded a lot over the last 18 months. many days it's as if it doesn't exist except for in dead silence (and even then its not all that harsh anymore).

Today my left ear is ringing a bit, a "bad day" by today's standards. A year ago I'd have called this a "great" day though.

I know a few people that this has healed for. I've posted many times on this site about it.

Great post.

 

Even though I am 2 months in. I want to write a sucess story on here and move on.

 

Is your from years of loud noise exposure? cause mine is.....and I have experienced no improvement in the 6½ months I have had it.

 

Yes. I have my cause listed. I was at a DIY venue with poor sound and no earplugs.

I've been around loud music my whole life though, so there is cumulative damage

 

Reading these really made my day.

 

Thanks gives me some hope.I had a ray of hope when my left ear suddenly stopped buzzing and right had gone down to a 2.But next day it was back with a bang .Reading the above makes me feel i will get there eventually

 

Another good thread...

 

I agree, @GSC. The Success Stories are what helped me to stay somewhat sane during my early days/weeks with tinnitus.

The good people here were also instrumental in my being able to cope.

 

Thank you for this post! I have hard time dealing with my T and H from an acoustic trauma that happened two months ago.

 

Have you experienced any fading compared to how you have been feeling a month ago?

 

@Bill Bauer Yea, perhaps a tiiiiiny bit. I can pop my ears again. So that improved. But I’m super scared of sounds and everything feels too loud because of my H. And the T is still really annoying.

 

H normally/reliably? goes away sometime during the first year after the onset. Don't worry about it.

Are you doing it using that Valsalva maneuver? It is better to avoid doing that maneuver, as it can harm your ears. If you have to do it, make sure you are as gentle as possible.

It should continue to fade. Ears take forever to heal, and some fading during those first three months or so demonstrates that your ears Can heal.

 

@Bill Bauer Thank you! This means alot to me! I do Valsalva very carefully. If I can’t do it then l avoid it.

 

@Bill Bauer It feels like my condition is no better at all. My left ear is not that ”clogged” as in the beginning, but some is still there. The T seems loud, still. I do everything I can to stay away from loud noises. Whenever my toddler starts to scream I run away from her

 

You will need to be patient...

 

@Bill Bauer Your tinnitus started three months after mine and you have also passed the two year mark. How are you doing? Any improvement?

 

I still visit this thread. Struggling today.

 

Hope you are doing better.

It is uplifting to read the success stories

 

Here is a way to see more success stories. Whenever someone reports that their tinnitus is gone, I ask them whether they can still hear it in a quiet room (to determine whether their tinnitus is actually 100% gone). Check out the search results below. When you click on each of the text links there, you will see my question. Scroll down to see their answer, and scroll up to see their success story.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/search/4086100/?q=quiet+room+earplugs&o=relevance&c[user][0]=22665

 

All success stories give me hope. I have had my T and H for 5 months now. It feels like I'm at a point of 70% improvement. Wish I'd be one of those lucky people who recovered after one year or so. It would be awesome. It's so strange that I'm not doing music anymore. It feels like my acoustic incident made me slow down and reconsider my life.