Seven Months with Sound-Induced Tinnitus: Is Anyone Seeing Improvements or Finding Hope?

[Sonia554]

I've had sound-induced tinnitus for seven months now and have only been on these boards for a short time, but what I mostly see is a lot of suffering. Is anyone here actually getting better as time goes on and feeling like their tinnitus is moving toward resolving? Especially those who have had it for more than six months. Is anyone noticing improvements? Does anyone still have hope?

 

[MindOverMatter]

I've had sound-induced tinnitus for seven months now and have only been on these boards for a short time, but what I mostly see is a lot of suffering. Is anyone here actually getting better as time goes on and feeling like their tinnitus is moving toward resolving? Especially those who have had it for more than six months. Is anyone noticing improvements? Does anyone still have hope?

My best advice to you, if you want to focus only on the "getting better part," is to stay clear of the stories you seem to come across most often. The more you read the "worst off" stories, the more you will suffer, in my opinion.

You can ask any counselor or therapist who works with this, and they will tell you the same.

And yes, there is plenty of hope and many people do get better. Habituation is real for most people.

Seven months is a short span of time, even though it may feel like a lifetime to you. Keep your chin up and know there will be better days ahead.

 

[Nes]

I got tinnitus about 1.5 years ago, and I started seeing the first signs of improvement after beginning Clonazepam, following 10 months of pure hell with loud tinnitus. Now, at 1.5 years, I still have it, but I have a lot of hope for the future, and it doesn't bother me nearly as much anymore. I don't believe it will ever go away, and I think accepting that fact was a big part of getting better.

There are plenty of success stories here, and even more outside this website. Many people who get better don't stick around. If you read the posts here, you'll notice it's often the same people who post regularly, and unfortunately, they tend to be the most severe cases.

One of the main key points in almost all success stories is that tinnitus and habituation both take a lot of time to improve—often months or even years. So, seven months is really nothing in the bigger picture.

 

[Tryn2BHopeful]

It can, and it does, get better. However, it can also get worse if you're not careful to protect your ears in loud environments.

 

[Sonia554]

My best advice to you, if you want to focus only on the "getting better part," is to stay clear of the stories you seem to come across most often. The more you read the "worst off" stories, the more you will suffer, in my opinion.

You can ask any counselor or therapist who works with this, and they will tell you the same.

And yes, there is plenty of hope and many people do get better. Habituation is real for most people.

Seven months is a short span of time, even though it may feel like a lifetime to you. Keep your chin up and know there will be better days ahead.

Thanks for the reply, @MindOverMatter. I've definitely discovered that reading the worst stories can trigger a panic attack when I otherwise would have been fine. I've been relying on ChatGPT to curate recovery stories for me so I can avoid reading the worst-case scenarios. The only thing is, I don't know if the stories ChatGPT gives me are real or made up. Some of them I've been able to find here or on Reddit, so I'm taking it on faith they aren't fake, and that healing from tinnitus between months 8 and 12 is actually more common than the forums or doctors let on.

I do realize that the very worst stories don't have much in common with my situation. I think tinnitus from a one-time, short-term noise exposure with no complicating factors, like mine, is probably one of the more likely cases to resolve fully or nearly fully. I just have straight tinnitus and some on-and-off soreness—no distortion, no hyperacusis, and no pre-existing conditions.

I've noticed significant, steady improvement over the last two months, months 6 and 7, and I hope it keeps going toward full or near-full resolution in the next month or two. It was like a switch flipped. It was awful, awful, and then one day, out of nowhere, I suddenly felt good enough to turn the sound support off and never really went back. Now I'm sleeping through the night, and I can sit in a quiet room with just the refrigerator hum—something I absolutely could not do two months ago. I'm not taking any drugs.

All the signs are positive, but I'm still sick and tired of it. The guilt and regret of knowing I caused this myself, when I should have known better and had every chance to avoid it, is probably worse than the tinnitus itself in many ways. I'm furious with myself for being so careless, and I have no idea what the long-term consequences will be, where I'll finally land in the healing process, or when. It's not like a broken bone where you have a standard timeline and recovery is practically guaranteed. It's unreal that 15 minutes in a furnace room seven months ago turned my whole life upside down.

It really is a lonely condition, and I was hoping to connect with people who are in a similar situation—one-time exposure and tinnitus lasting more than six months. I know a lot of people leave when they start getting better, so we don't hear about their recovery, and the forums make it seem like no one improves. I wish more people would come back and report when things get better so we could see that it does happen. That 3 to 6-month timeframe everyone talks about is outdated. Many people continue to get better well after that.

 

[MindOverMatter]

It really is a lonely condition, and I was hoping to connect with people who are in a similar situation—one-time exposure and tinnitus lasting more than six months. I know a lot of people leave when they start getting better, so we don't hear about their recovery, and the forums make it seem like no one improves. I wish more people would come back and report when things get better so we could see that it does happen. That 3 to 6-month timeframe everyone talks about is outdated. Many people continue to get better well after that.

The thing is, it does feel lonely at times, but if you start opening up to people about it, you'll discover how common it really is—especially after the kind of situation you mentioned.

I think it's important to understand that it's usually not just one single thing that caused it. What you experienced was likely the final trigger, but more often it's an accumulation over time that leads up to that event.

It usually also means that even though you do get better—as most people do habituate to some extent—your auditory system is still somewhat compromised. That's why you need to be careful, especially when attending loud events.

There are no guarantees in life. I had stable tinnitus, after habituating the first time, for 15 years before a major worsening. Now I've had it for more than 20 years in total. It's not a walk in the park, but it's not the end of the world either. Life is still good.

 

[Sonia554]

I got tinnitus about 1.5 years ago, and I started seeing the first signs of improvement after beginning Clonazepam, following 10 months of pure hell with loud tinnitus. Now, at 1.5 years, I still have it, but I have a lot of hope for the future, and it doesn't bother me nearly as much anymore. I don't believe it will ever go away, and I think accepting that fact was a big part of getting better.

There are plenty of success stories here, and even more outside this website. Many people who get better don't stick around. If you read the posts here, you'll notice it's often the same people who post regularly, and unfortunately, they tend to be the most severe cases.

One of the main key points in almost all success stories is that tinnitus and habituation both take a lot of time to improve—often months or even years. So, seven months is really nothing in the bigger picture.

I'm trying so hard to be patient, and I'm sure my feelings are shared by many on these boards. I keep remembering the "before" times when tinnitus wasn't a concern and dreaming of the day it either goes away or becomes so negligible that it's unnoticeable. I'm hoping my recent improvements are positive signs and not just temporary.

The uncertainty is what makes it so difficult. I could live with it for another couple of months if I knew it was going to disappear. The not knowing is the hardest part.

How would you rate your tinnitus these days in terms of tone and volume?

 

[Sonia554]

The thing is, it does feel lonely at times, but if you start opening up to people about it, you'll discover how common it really is—especially after the kind of situation you mentioned.

I think it's important to understand that it's usually not just one single thing that caused it. What you experienced was likely the final trigger, but more often it's an accumulation over time that leads up to that event.

It usually also means that even though you do get better—as most people do habituate to some extent—your auditory system is still somewhat compromised. That's why you need to be careful, especially when attending loud events.

There are no guarantees in life. I had stable tinnitus, after habituating the first time, for 15 years before a major worsening. Now I've had it for more than 20 years in total. It's not a walk in the park, but it's not the end of the world either. Life is still good.

What caused your tinnitus the first time, and what led to the worsening?

I had very mild, low tinnitus before this that I rarely noticed, and even when I did, it never bothered me. It was always, "Oh, there's my tinnitus," and as soon as I started doing something else, I'd forget all about it. But this now is just killing me.

It is getting a little easier, but I've lost weight, I have trouble focusing at work, and I feel tense all the time. I worry that I've permanently compromised my ears and that one wrong move will lead to lasting worsening. My hearing test came back normal, though, so I hope I've only irritated my auditory system and not actually damaged it.

I've heard that tinnitus after noise exposure is not progressive and won't get worse from normal daily sounds unless there's another major noise incident. I don't care for bars or concerts, but I do love cities, and I worry about the impact of trains and buses. I've been told that as long as I rest and take care of my ears during recovery, they won't be permanently more fragile than before.

 

[Nes]

The uncertainty is what makes it so difficult. I could live with it for another couple of months if I knew it was going to disappear. The not knowing is the hardest part.

Yeah, I get it. I had that a lot too. Now I've accepted that it's not going away, so I might as well live my life again.

How would you rate your tinnitus these days in terms of tone and volume?

It's hard to say because my tinnitus is not constant. I have five or six different tones, and they all come and go. The volume also changes, sometimes it's very loud, and other times it's not.

I would rather describe it in terms of how much it bothers me. Today I'm at a 6 out of 10 because I woke up with a rare and annoying tone I sometimes get. Yesterday I was at a 4. The day before that I was at a 1 out of 10. Tomorrow I might be at a 1 or a 7, there's no way to tell. Maybe this afternoon it won't bother me anymore either.

 

[MindOverMatter]

What caused your tinnitus the first time, and what led to the worsening?

I had very mild, low tinnitus before this that I rarely noticed, and even when I did, it never bothered me. It was always, "Oh, there's my tinnitus," and as soon as I started doing something else, I'd forget all about it. But this now is just killing me.

It is getting a little easier, but I've lost weight, I have trouble focusing at work, and I feel tense all the time. I worry that I've permanently compromised my ears and that one wrong move will lead to lasting worsening. My hearing test came back normal, though, so I hope I've only irritated my auditory system and not actually damaged it.

I've heard that tinnitus after noise exposure is not progressive and won't get worse from normal daily sounds unless there's another major noise incident. I don't care for bars or concerts, but I do love cities, and I worry about the impact of trains and buses. I've been told that as long as I rest and take care of my ears during recovery, they won't be permanently more fragile than before.

I don't know what the initial cause was back in 2004, but most likely it was an accumulation over time that was finally triggered by stress or something else happening during that period. There was no particular incident.

The worsening in late 2019 was due to high sound exposure.

It has taken me a lot of time and effort to get to where I am today, which is a much better place most days. But as I always say, setbacks and spikes are unavoidable in modern everyday life when you live with chronic tinnitus.

Normal daily sounds are definitely not something you should protect against. They are a great opportunity for you to habituate over time. Whether that takes six months, twelve months, or more, only time will tell.

 

[Strife_84]

It took me about 4 years to feel "normal" again, and 6 years until I didn't even think about it anymore.

Then I messed up once by going into a club with earplugs, and I was almost back at the beginning.

Just give it time. You'll take steps forward and backward, but always remember the good days.

It's possible to live a better life afterwards than before.

 

[Sydnears]

It took me about 4 years to feel "normal" again, and 6 years until I didn't even think about it anymore.

Then I messed up once by going into a club with earplugs, and I was almost back at the beginning.

Just give it time. You'll take steps forward and backward, but always remember the good days.

It's possible to live a better life afterwards than before.

Four years? To habituate, or did your tinnitus resolve?

 

[Sonia554]

It took me about 4 years to feel "normal" again, and 6 years until I didn't even think about it anymore.

Then I messed up once by going into a club with earplugs, and I was almost back at the beginning.

Just give it time. You'll take steps forward and backward, but always remember the good days.

It's possible to live a better life afterwards than before.

6 years is not very encouraging. That's a very long time.

 

[Strife_84]

Four years? To habituate, or did your tinnitus resolve?

Well, it reached a point where I barely heard my tinnitus anymore, and my hyperacusis disappeared as well. But now my tinnitus has gotten worse again, because I went to a club with earplugs about four months ago.

I was feeling so good that I thought I could handle it. I was wrong. Never again.

 

[MindOverMatter]

Well, it reached a point where I barely heard my tinnitus anymore, and my hyperacusis disappeared as well. But now my tinnitus has gotten worse again, because I went to a club with earplugs about four months ago.

I was feeling so good that I thought I could handle it. I was wrong. Never again.

Sorry to hear about this. I know the place. It's not easy to get back, but it is doable.

Another good example is @Sonia554, related to what I mentioned before. Even though your hearing test is coming back fine, the auditory system is compromised in one way or another. So even if you improve a lot and habituate—which is quite likely—there are still no guarantees about what the future holds for your ears. Better safe than sorry. Living within normal limits doesn't mean you should stop living.

By the way, most hearing tests don't cover all the frequencies, so you may still have a hidden hearing loss that won't show up in the results. Just for your information.

 

[Sonia554]

Sorry to hear about this. I know the place. It's not easy to get back, but it is doable.

Another good example is @Sonia554, related to what I mentioned before. Even though your hearing test is coming back fine, the auditory system is compromised in one way or another. So even if you improve a lot and habituate—which is quite likely—there are still no guarantees about what the future holds for your ears. Better safe than sorry. Living within normal limits doesn't mean you should stop living.

By the way, most hearing tests don't cover all the frequencies, so you may still have a hidden hearing loss that won't show up in the results. Just for your information.

Improve a lot, as in the volume going down? I feel like I lost my entire life the moment I walked into that furnace room. There's a clear before and after now, and I'll be living with this sound for the rest of my life. I still can't wrap my head around it.

 

[MindOverMatter]

Let me rephrase that a bit. Improvement by habituation is the most likely outcome, meaning your tinnitus will become pretty much non-bothersome again. That may very well happen down the road.

The perceived volume can be turned down by your brain as it processes it.

All the "whys and what ifs" are common territory for most people who are bothered by it, but the sooner you can let go of those thoughts, the sooner you will reach a state where you can process it in a healthier way.

 

[Sonia554]

Let me rephrase that a bit. Improvement by habituation is the most likely outcome, meaning your tinnitus will become pretty much non-bothersome again. That may very well happen down the road.

The perceived volume can be turned down by your brain as it processes it.

All the "whys and what ifs" are common territory for most people who are bothered by it, but the sooner you can let go of those thoughts, the sooner you will reach a state where you can process it in a healthier way.

So basically, no one actually gets better. They just learn to accept their new reality.

 

[RocketJSquirrel]

Especially those who have had it for more than six months. Is anyone noticing improvements? Does anyone still have hope?

I have had 28 years of nonstop high-pitched ringing. There is no hope. All I can do is ignore it as best I can. I hope you have better luck than I did.

 

[MindOverMatter]

So basically, no one actually gets better. They just learn to accept their new reality.

Well, no. That is not what I am saying. There is no magic bullet you might be hoping for to stop it. After the six-month mark, the chances of it disappearing altogether are very slim, in my opinion.

However, if you habituate, you are not bothered by it most of the time. That is a win.

Acceptance is the first step.

Most people do get better, but not necessarily in the way you may be imagining, such as the tinnitus disappearing completely.

 

[Sonia554]

Well, no. That is not what I am saying. There is no magic bullet you might be hoping for to stop it. After the six-month mark, the chances of it disappearing altogether are very slim, in my opinion.

However, if you habituate, you are not bothered by it most of the time. That is a win.

Acceptance is the first step.

Most people do get better, but not necessarily in the way you may be imagining, such as the tinnitus disappearing completely.

I think more people experience complete or nearly complete resolution after the six-month mark than we realize. There are not many studies that track natural resolution beyond six months, so we do not really know how long-term healing progresses, especially when broken down by cause. The studies that do exist show that resolution can occur regardless of cause, age, or gender, and that most who recover do not relapse. Even severe tinnitus or extreme trauma can fully heal over time, as long as there is no reinjury or complicating health problem.

I have never expected a magic bullet. I do not chase cures. I rely on time. I do not see why the rates of complete or near-complete resolution would be very different at eight or nine months compared to five or six. The difference is a matter of weeks, not years. Some people simply heal more slowly than others. I came across someone on Reddit who compiled a list of over 200 posters, just from that one group, who experienced complete or near-complete resolution after six months. The majority recovered around the one-year mark, and some even later. If 200 people reported that in one Reddit group, imagine how many more never post in forums, never participate in studies, and never even see an ENT. My own tinnitus is fading, with nearly all of the improvement happening in months six and seven. It is slower than I would like, but the fading is unmistakable.

I think the biggest mistake during tinnitus recovery is telling people with new onset that their condition is probably permanent. That message causes unnecessary grief and anguish for people who do ultimately get better as the months pass. Many people, like me, do not even begin to improve until after six months. Why take away hope from the start? Hope helps with recovery. Not everyone gets better, but those who never experience any improvement at all are in the minority. Even for many of them, recovery may be possible if they allow their nervous system to rest and calm down, and if they retrain both their auditory and nervous systems. Studies also show that people who suffer the longest often struggle with OCD, high anxiety, or other mental health issues. Once they learn how to manage those, they can recover, even years after onset.

 

[MindOverMatter]

I think more people experience complete or nearly complete resolution after the six-month mark than we realize. There are not many studies that track natural resolution beyond six months, so we do not really know how long-term healing progresses, especially when broken down by cause. The studies that do exist show that resolution can occur regardless of cause, age, or gender, and that most who recover do not relapse. Even severe tinnitus or extreme trauma can fully heal over time, as long as there is no reinjury or complicating health problem.

I have never expected a magic bullet. I do not chase cures. I rely on time. I do not see why the rates of complete or near-complete resolution would be very different at eight or nine months compared to five or six. The difference is a matter of weeks, not years. Some people simply heal more slowly than others. I came across someone on Reddit who compiled a list of over 200 posters, just from that one group, who experienced complete or near-complete resolution after six months. The majority recovered around the one-year mark, and some even later. If 200 people reported that in one Reddit group, imagine how many more never post in forums, never participate in studies, and never even see an ENT. My own tinnitus is fading, with nearly all of the improvement happening in months six and seven. It is slower than I would like, but the fading is unmistakable.

I think the biggest mistake during tinnitus recovery is telling people with new onset that their condition is probably permanent. That message causes unnecessary grief and anguish for people who do ultimately get better as the months pass. Many people, like me, do not even begin to improve until after six months. Why take away hope from the start? Hope helps with recovery.

100%. I totally agree with most of what you write here, but I am confused about what you mean by healing. Most people who develop bothersome tinnitus, and go beyond the six-month mark or more, usually will not become completely tinnitus free. The majority will still have tinnitus, and they will hear it if they tune into it. But, with time, they learn to let it fade into the background so that it is no longer a nuisance. It is not bothersome. You habituate. That is healing.

Complete resolution and disappearance of tinnitus altogether, once it has entered what we call the chronic stage, is not unheard of but rare, in my opinion especially when sound-induced. It is probably most common with purely somatic tinnitus (and pure somatic tinnitus itself is not very common, although many people do have somatic components).

If you read my posts on this forum, you will see that I am certainly an advocate for hope. I have more than 20 years of experience with tinnitus, including five years in therapy, and I have been through hell and back with it.

I fully agree with you that taking hope away from people in any circumstance is not good counseling. Whatever ailments you have, if hope is taken away, something dies within you and you begin to give up. That is a negative and dangerous spiral to go down, and the way back from it is difficult.

Just to make it clear, I never said there is not a lot of hope and many possibilities to get much better after six months, twelve months, or even two years and beyond. But once you are in the chronic stages, it usually will not disappear. However, the brain can start to interpret it as a non-threatening, boring sound. So it fades into the background in your everyday life. That is habituation.

 

[Badger55]

The biggest determinant of how fast you will heal is how quickly you return to normal sleeping patterns.

Since April of this year, I have been suffering from an acoustic shock caused by a high-frequency hearing test that exposed me to 12,000 Hertz at 90 decibels. This turned my mild to moderate, regular, non-reactive tinnitus into severe reactive tinnitus.

My sleep dropped from my normal five to six hours down to three or four, sometimes even less. The main reason is the louder tinnitus, and because reactive tinnitus does not allow me to mask for sleep. As a result, my condition has worsened since April.

 

[Sonia554]

The biggest determinant of how fast you will heal is how quickly you return to normal sleeping patterns.

Since April of this year, I have been suffering from an acoustic shock caused by a high-frequency hearing test that exposed me to 12,000 Hertz at 90 decibels. This turned my mild to moderate, regular, non-reactive tinnitus into severe reactive tinnitus.

My sleep dropped from my normal five to six hours down to three or four, sometimes even less. The main reason is the louder tinnitus, and because reactive tinnitus does not allow me to mask for sleep. As a result, my condition has worsened since April.

That is awful. I'm so sorry that happened to you. If I had read some of these stories about hearing tests making tinnitus worse, I don't think I ever would have gone through with one. The same goes for ear irrigation. Now I find myself wondering if I delayed my own healing by having both of those procedures done.

My sleep started returning to normal in mid-July, which was Month 6. Before that, I was only getting two or three hours a night. I was deep in fight-or-flight mode, constantly feeling the urge to jump out of bed and pace the room. I had sound support devices on both sides of the bed, yet it still wasn't enough. My left ear in particular was very sore, and my middle ear felt swollen. Every time I rolled over, it seemed like a bag of water was shifting around behind my eardrum, even though the ENT insisted there was no fluid and that the inner ear pressure was normal.

The pain resolved in May (Month 4), although I still experience intermittent pressure. The tinnitus didn't start reducing in volume until July. Now I can get into bed and stay there until morning. I still have some restless sleep, and the tinnitus sometimes works its way into my dreams, but overall it tends to settle down when I lie down for the night.

 

[Escalado]

My best advice to you, if you want to focus only on the "getting better part," is to stay clear of the stories you seem to come across most often. The more you read the "worst off" stories, the more you will suffer, in my opinion.

You can ask any counselor or therapist who works with this, and they will tell you the same.

And yes, there is plenty of hope and many people do get better. Habituation is real for most people.

Seven months is a short span of time, even though it may feel like a lifetime to you. Keep your chin up and know there will be better days ahead.

I really needed to hear this. Thank you.

 

[Badger55]

I am guessing that the noise you were exposed to was on the lower end of the scale when it comes to damaging sounds, and that your prospects for near full recovery are very good. In 1992, I was exposed to a huge explosion in the room where I was working. It caused the sudden onset of very severe 10/10 high-frequency tinnitus, which brought the same level of suffering you describe in your own case.

However, a year later the sound had become essentially insignificant, maybe a 1 or 2 out of 10, still present but so faint that it was easy to ignore. In the following 32 years, I experienced the occasional spike that caused short-term distress, but I always reverted back to a very manageable sound.

With any luck, your experience will be as good as, or even better than, my early recovery with tinnitus. But, as wisely pointed out by @MindOverMatter above, your hearing has been compromised, and severe tinnitus may always be waiting in the background for a chance to resurface, just as it did with me this year. Be thankful that you do not have reactive tinnitus, because that variant imposes a hardship I never could have imagined.