I Know of 2 People in My Family Whose Tinnitus Has Gone Away

Hi guys,

I just wanted to encourage you that tinnitus can disappear. I recently spoke to a cousin of mine who had severe tinnitus for 2.5 years after a gun shot incident.

Spoke to him recently and he said it completely disappeared.

I also spoke to another cousin who was born with bad hearing and had tinnitus when he was a teenager.

Now he's in his 20s and told me he doesn't even remember but now he doesn't hear any sounds. I also believe that it can go away or at least we can habituate.

 

Thank you for sharing these stories! It means a lot.

It took 2.5 years before he could hear silence again, right? May I ask you to please ask him how long his "can hear T only in quiet rooms" period had lasted? It would also help to know how loud was his T during the first month after onset (and was it a hiss or a high pitch tone). The latter would give us an idea about how bad he hurt his ears in the first place. Thank you!

 

My moms went away after three months from ETD. Also she has TMJ which gave her tinnitus for a little while when she was a kid. That's where I get my bad jaw from I guess.

 

@Bill Bauer he really can't remember the details but he did say that his ear would sometimes go deaf and He also experienced sound sensitivity. He's fine now and doesn't really want to talk about the experience. He used to watch tv in till he fell asleep because he couldn't be in a quiet room. Now he says he doesn't hear any ringing or sounds just silence. Yes his T disappeared after about 2.5 years. Everyone's experience is different. But I believe the more we try to keep our focus away from T the better. It's hard. But anything is possible

 

My brother in law's T went away on it.s own after 6 years,and my wife's cousin's after he stopped having lots of sugar.

 

Do you know what caused T for your brother in law?

 

Could you please ask him how long was his "can hear it only in quiet rooms" period?

 

Asking around I have three acquaintances for whom it went away after a few months and one friend for whom it went away after one year

 

How long did "can only hear it in quiet rooms" period last for your friend?

 

Do most people go through a "can hear it only in quiet rooms" period? I feel like I'm talking about a completely different condition sometimes.

 

Yes because it is one.

 

Several people on this forum mentioned this stage in their posts. I am assuming that people who got to hear silence again, first went through that period (and didn't have loud T just turn off one day).

So, to answer your question, it is likely that most of the people who got cured went through that "hear it only in quiet rooms" period.

 

Still though.....once again the reports that T went away is from people that have had a sudden acoustic trauma

When you have T from years of loud noise exposure like me and some others have, it seems to never go away. We are just screwed.

 

Im really thankfull for sharing those positive stories @Lesly Thank you for giving us hope! I wish more people could be that generous

 

@Bill Bauer I haven't asked her but I will. I asked her how loud it was and she said very loud and she could hear it over the television. I can hear mine over the television on a quiet day so not sure about her definition of loud

 

Well, I agree that tinnitus that can only be heard in quiet rooms is more likely to go away. A watched pot never boils. Maybe that was a bad analogy, but tinnitus that is impossible to ignore seems unlikely to ever go away completely, especially if it's been around for a year or more with no positive changes. If I could only hear my tinnitus in quiet rooms I don't think I would have even joined tinnitus talk. I have no problem with people that are here with very mild T, but the difference is just night and day.

If it started off mild where someone could only hear it in quiet rooms, then the odds of it going away completely seem much greater (that or people completely habituate to where they cannot hear it). If people have to actively listen to their T and their biggest problem is anxiety and focusing on it, then they seem much more likely to improve once they stop looking for it. Similarly, if it fades to that level weeks or months after onset, then it seems more likely to go away.

I had one neurotologist (that works in tinnitus research) tell me that tinnitus caused by a single event is much more likely to improve over time than tinnitus that shows up after years of loud noise exposure.

 

Exactly as I thought

 

My sister also had a spontaneous remission of Tinnitus, after 4 months.

 

Lesly, thank you so much for posting this story. It's good to know there are people out there who fully recovered even after extended period of time. I believe there are a LOT of these people but few would bother sharing their recovery once they feel good. I don't really blame them for moving on with their life but we definitely need to hear stories like this.

 

I think we tend to speculate alot based on the few stories we read. I don't think anyone really knows that tinnitus that can only be heard in quiet rooms has a greater chance of seizing than one heard over everything. My cousin (who got tinnitus from a gun shot) cant really remember when he heard it only in quiet rooms but he did say that as time went by it did reduce in volume. When that happened, he cannot remember but he just noticed one day that it was completely gone and has been like that for months. The truth is we really don't know when and how this process takes place. As mentioned earlier, my other cousin who has hearing problems which require hearing aids had tinnitus really bad when he was a teenager. Now he tells me he doesn't remember and cant hear any sounds/tones in his ears. He also doesn't really use his hearing aids and hes fine. We really just have to keep hoping and have faith that it can disappear. My Audiologist told me if its not gone in 2 months then its permanent. Imagine if she told my cousin the same thing? So we just need to stay positive and keep hoping.

 

He does not know but his father also had it he thought he inherited it.In other words reason unknown.

 

I will when I see him but he probably doe not remember.It was quite a while ago.

 

@Tony Phylactou Thanks for the positive story tho!

 

Well, that's music to my ears, as I got my T from gun shot as well. 4 month in I cannot say that my T improved, but knock on wood I am better then a lot of people who are really suffering. Get weird headaches though, but otherwise very quiet tone and static.

 

I agree. 13 years ago I had horrible Tinnitus caused from acoustic trauma (extremely loud power equipment for about 30 minutes) I didn't think it would ever fade, but it faded 100% in 18-24 months.
I now have T again from an outdoor concert. 14 months in and it has improved over 80% and continues to fade. I'm 58 years old, so it takes longer to heal, but I am hoping for 100% recovery.

 

Hi @jjflyman . Thanks for sharing that. When you had tinnitus the first time, and indeed for the second time how long did it take before it started to fade in each instance? I'm 3 months in with no real improvement to date

 

Both my times were from acoustic trauma. It fades so slow, that it's tough to say when I started noticing improvement. I would say at least several months. Improvement's could only be measured in months. It's so slow and gradual, that it's hard to form a point of reference. I have read stories of T taking 3 years to fade away.

 

I understand. Its a very difficult condition to cope with. I say give it time. You wont see great improvements in the first 6 months. It takes time. Just make sure you make some changes to your lifestyle. My cousin had a really tough experience but now hes so much stronger and even forgot about the experience. Try not to count the months but rather focus on the little improvements you notice. If his T could disappear after a gunshot, im positive that yours will also eventually disappear All the best!

 

So.. If i got my T from a rave with loud music, i have higher chances? I too hear it it silent environments, there are nights where the left T fades a lot, some nights stays the same, hopefully i recover , if not it's all good I'm getting used to it after 4 months. But what worries me a little is the fact that i used to listen to earphones a lot and drove a motorcycle for 2 years, however i sold the bike and haven't used any earphones since.

Those stories sure do give hope, and to live without hope is to cease to live.

 

Question, to those who know people that have recovered, have they used earplugs daily? While going to the city or at work etc. Or have they just forgot about T that much that they didn't? I have a feeling sometimes that i use earplugs where unnecessary.