How Long Till Tinnitus Is Considered Chronic?

How long does it take for tinnitus to persist to be considered permanent? I have had mine for a month now and no improvement, seems to be getting worse. I have no hearing loss or acoustic trauma involved.

 

Tinnitus can go away within the first 6 months to a year. It all depends on what has caused the tinnitus? After one year it is usually regarded as permanent.

 

What Michael said...and...there have been reports of tinnitus going away after multiple years albeit very rare.
No word if those that had their long term tinnitus vanish..if they had a head transplant.

 

I don't think there is any established threshold.
Why does it matter? Would you do things any differently if you knew what the threshold was with certainty?

All this information is going to do is increase your anxiety, on top of being probably very inaccurate.

 

Adjusting to your tinnitus in the first few months and coping with the unwanted emotions like anxiety and panic and sleepless nights is the main goal.
If it still stays after 4-6 months then looking for extra help regarding hearing aids and maskers could be needed . Habituation can come in the first few months so ENT refural in the UK is usually done after 4-6months of having tinnitus .
The problem is people need support in the first few months and TRT will come after been seen by ENT and audiology but can ask your doctor how to get CBT.
Tinnitus talk and the BTA play a big part in supporting tinnitus sufferers in the early months.
Always try to stay positive even in down times that your tinnitus can go in the first 6-12 months...lots of love glynis

 

@Nathalie

Well said Glynis and fully agree with you.

 

No one knows......some researchers believe its 6 weeks.....other think it is 6months to an year.....but no one knows till we have ways of restoring hidden hearing loss and see if the brains to it original state.

Source: Reasearch papers that i am too lazy to find the links.

Your goal realistically should be how you can come close to normal life and accept your T.

 

Acceptance does not make sense as it implies consent, and it's not like we have a choice. We're not accepting, we're being imposed.

@Nathalie
If I were you I would try to find the root cause for your T, through a set of tests.
Either you find what it is or not. If not, you're no worse than now.
If you do find what it is, either it's fixable or it's not. If it's not, it's no worse than now (but you know to keep an eye out for cures targeted at that root cause).
If it is fixable, well, then jackpot.

Don't give up so early. In fact, time could be of the essence, depending on what is really causing your T.

Good luck.

 

Is there a greater chance for it to go away if it wasn't caused by noise exposure?

 

@Nathalie You haven't had tinnitus long. Until you find out what is causing it only then will you be able to decide with the help of your doctor the course of action/treatment you wish to take. I agree with @Hopeful1 comments. Acceptance is the best way to move forwards with this condition. However, you are not at that stage yet and a lot can happen until you are diagnosed. If memory serves me correctly, you have some TMJ issues so you may be referred to a Maxilofacial specialist.

For now, you might find using sound enrichment at night, comforting and will help to take your focus away from the tinnitus. If it is possible use sound enrichment during the day too. Have a word with your doctor on how you are feeling as something may be prescribed to help settle any anxiety or stress that you might feeling. Tinnitus often makes people feels this way in the early stages. Things will get better with time.
Michael

 

Thanks everyone for your advice. I hope to find the cause soon and if not, I hope for my tinnitus to vanish as mysteriously as it initially appeared. Hope is not lost yet.

 

If you had noise induced T for a month, it would not be a good sign. Even if one month is not a lot.

In your case, there are so many possible causes that it's very hard to say. But only time will tell, try to be ok with it for now, and you'll maybe have a good surprise. Protect your ears.

 

My tinnitus also came "mysteriously". Well, I had an anxiety disorder at the time. On the Dutch tinnitus forum some say my tinnitus will go away once my system is recovered from the times of anxiety and only the part possibly caused by hearing loss would stay (which would be a tiny T as my hearing is almost perfect, also no hidden hearing loss as far as I can tell). But I doubt it. Some Dutch tinnitus clinic says there is nothing to do about tinnitus once you have it for two years, another source says it's chronic after six months.
I am past six months now and you know, I do not really care about whether it is permanent or not anymore. Early those 'deadlines' would only bring me fear. Now, the thought that I can habituate to this thing is most important. There WILL be a time that I no longer see tinnitus as a problem and I will no longer suffer from it. It will be a mere background sound which does not ask for any attention. For me, the sound may stay for ever.