Doctor Said My Tinnitus Is Permanent and It Can't Go Away

I am here because what I read is different than what my doctor told me. If you get online people say tinnitus can last for months, to years. But when I talked to my doctor she said learn to live with it because it’s permanent. According to the internet it can go away, according to my doctor it doesn’t.

 

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...orum-more-useful-than-your-ents-advice.28006/

 

I genuinely believe the probability of healing from significant noise-induced tinnitus is pretty low especially if it's been there for some time. For me after 7 years there's virtually no hope of it going away on its own I probably have a higher chance of winning the lottery.

Having said that, it can change, it can get better but it can also get worse, so take care of your ears at all costs.

 

That’s not true at all and surprised your doctor could be so unsympathetic. There are so many cases where is does improve or vanish but yes there are cases where it does unfortunately become permanent. She should have offered you encouragement, hope and options. I would see another doctor. How bad is your Tinnitus and what are the circumstances

 

Doctor's don't know anything about this condition. For me personally, for the case of Tinnitus I trust the advice of people online and those who have actually experienced it rather than doctors who just want to get you out of their office.

For many it can be permanent, but for some it does go away. It all depends on the cause.

 

For people with tinnitus, months & years can seem like forever!

 

If tinnitus cannot go away, then any kind of wax removal is useless when it comes to tinnitus. After all, its permanent, right?

On a more serious note: most doctors have a mindset of "tinnitus = hearing loss". And hearing loss can't be removed (yet), if we exclude hearing aids and such. In that context, we could say that your doctor is right.

However, things just aren't that black and white, not by a long shot even. Pulsatile tinnitus can be fixed if the cause is taken care of. Somatic tinnitus caused by neck or jaw issues can be fixed if the damaged body part is properly treated: diagnosing these correctly is usually the hardest part. Even cases with hearing loss fix "themselves" plenty of times, sometimes years after onset.

Our knowledge about tinnitus is limited, and that's the main issue. Your doctor may not know the correct cause and cure, but that does not mean that there is none. Stay hopeful, even if your body does not figure this out on its own, there is lots of research coming up (finally).

 

Just to say that MOST doctors know absolutely nothing, and I've never come across more people in one so called profession that have been so ill informed about any condition in my life. I've spent only 5 months since they ruined my life with tests trying to find some sort of help, which is a waste of my time and probably theirs. They have no clue about anything to do with it, and also seem less interested too. They spend more time looking things up online when I'm there than actually knowing anything. And I'm even talking about the ones who call themselves 'specialists' in the subject. None of them were even aware the tests could cause what I now have. And the rest of them knew even less.

Speak to the people on here instead, who have first hand experience of it, not people who read a book once.

 

If it's been longer than 3-6 months, it's probably permanent... doesn't mean it doesn't improve though.

 

I have read some cases (here on this forum) some years ago.. from my memory there was a guy who after several years got rid of his tinnitus from a head chiropractor.. he said that he had done before but it did not affect his tinnitus - but that one managed to take it away..

Another one had a neck surgery and after that he had no more T.

I personally have had T since 2013 and I would say that if it lasts more than 6 months the probability of having it permanently is very high.. unfortunately.. But as Luke said, there is improvement (for some). In my case tinnitus is "non existent". I do hear it obviously, but I somehow forget that it is there (it took me 4 years to achieve this state).

 

I had about a year of this. But kinda had a relapse.

but yeah depending on what your T is from.. if it’s noise induced, that’s different to something like TMJ T..
So it could go but unlikely if noise induced or cochlea cell death

 

My ENT said the same thing to me but my tinnitus eventually went away.

 

If it has relentlessly been at the same volume level for 3-6 months, then it is likely going to stay at that level. However, if there has been any improvement, then it ought to continue to fade and eventually one can expect to get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage.

 

How long did you have it before it went away?

 

Mine went away, It took a long time and it was the hardest period of my life but it did go away. When I first visited my doctor and then a hearing specialist I was told it would never go away. Three years later when I finally got my appointment with ENT and I explained it had gone away, he actually didn’t believe me, asked if I could hear it again now that we are talking about it and I said no. He was shocked.

Obviously the chances of it going away depend on how you acquired it but in my opinion (and it is just from my experience) I believe acoustic shock or sudden loud noise exposure, is different from long term noise induced tinnitus and therefore nerves can repair over time and tinnitus can fade away. It does take a long time, If it dosent fade totally it can be managed and you can deal with it but everything takes time.

 

Just curious - what are the time frames you're talking about? How long did you have it before it went away?

Thanks.

 

Can you hear anything in a quiet room with earplugs in?

 

It was a good 18-24 months before I could say it was completely gone.

I havnt tried that but I know when I’m in a quiet room I do try and listen for it and thankfully it’s not there.

 

About 3.5 years.

 

Can't hear anything even with earplugs in a silent room.

 

In my experience you can have a significant improvement even after years (in terms of volume, not habituation). The problem is that you need to take care of your ears for the rest of your life and we live in a noisy world. So there is a high chance of worsenings.
Tinnitus is not good at second chances.

 

Yes totally agree. If you don’t have any setbacks then it may reduce but even when you are careful something will surprise you and either back to square one or it worsens. I have had a number of setbacks of late mainly as the sound threshold is Lower so even less noisy sounds causes havoc