Spontaneous Recovery Stats: Many Recover (3 Studies)

@Bill Bauer Thank you Bill, always so helpful.

 

Your kind words mean a lot. Thank you.

 

Hhmmmmmm, according to an NHS source online that I read a while back, only 11% will spontaneously heal from tinnitus (complete silence) although the percentage for habituation was much higher?

 

Could you please provide a link to that paper? It would be interesting to see what group of people (i.e., age, the cause of their T, T duration before one was included into the study, etc.) the paper was looking at.

 

I can't remember, it was online linked to an NHS page.

 

That's hopeful information.

I wonder if this is only for noise induced, or all T.

I'm in the otoxic category

 

Check out posts #36 and 37 on page 2 of this thread. (Oh, I see you quoted post #36.) Those posts are about seniors. My guess is that some of them had their T as a result of taking ototoxic medications. You would think that what happens with brain neurons must be similar in both acoustic trauma and ototoxic cases of T. It might be the brain eventually rewiring itself that cures or alleviates T, so hopefully these results can be used to predict the likely progress of T that is a result of a reaction to ototoxic medication...

 

I think hope is the biggest salve. It's amazing how cold some can be in the medical profession. I'm 74, in otherwise good health. At first this was devastating. You heal from broker bones, fevers, most everything. The first thing I read was that to find out you have tinnitus was the worst news aside from a terminal illness like cancer. When I heard you can outgrow it, end up not being bothered by it, even hear it after habituation, and hopefully take things that will greatly reduce it, or eliminate it, it kept you from not wanting to jump off a cliff (would never do that to my wife and kids). I pray a lot because I have seen and heard of great medically unexplained miracles. What I wish is that there was a way of instantly reducing the sound when you seem to have these spikes in the hissing. I've played jazz piano in jazz combos at UNLV as a hobby and to help the jazz studies program. The thought of never being able to play again was a huge crusher, but I recently bought some rather expensive professional musician ear plugs that hopefully will work. So many hopeful and encouraging remarks on this site are so uplifting and help keep you going.

 

Some people on this forum found that they get relief (i.e., their T temporarily fades) when they take benzos (e.g., Xanax, Valium). If you decide to experiment with this, try to minimize the number of times when you try this. You don't want to get addicted...

I read posts by many people here reporting temporary or even permanent spikes after being exposed to moderate noise (i.e., loud pubs) while wearing hearing protection (e.g., ear plugs)(!) You might want to wait for a year or two after the onset of your T, to allow your ears to heal, before trying playing a musical instrument again. The first time you try it, you might want to do it only for 15 minutes or so. Wait a couple of days to see whether it has a negative impact, then try playing for longer next time.

 

@Bill Bauer Thank you so much for this post. A week ago i got T from a small firecracker and i at first i thougt i had ruined my life compleatley. But then i read around and saw a bunch of recovery stories and got happy. Today my T dissapeard compleatley for about 1 hour and then came back. When i saw your post i got much more hope to recover. i mean if a coupel of peapol could recover their queitness or how i should say i can proababley recover from this small bang compeard to that bomb.

Im sorry for not spelling all the words correctly since English is not my first language

 

Thank you for sharing that the information in this thread was helpful to you!

While I am sorry that it came back, the fact that it briefly went away (and that it happened only a week after the onset of T) is a Very encouraging sign. Hopefully these pauses will get longer and longer and soon you will be cured.

 

@Bill Bauer yes thank you. and i think so too

 

This is a good sign. Keep your hearing protected from loud noises and you have a good chance at full recovery.

 

@GregCA Thank you. For every single person that tells me that I have a good chance to fully recover makes me more happy and makes it easier to deal with tinnitus. Thanks again. And I hope your tinnitus isn´t too bad and you also recover. No one deserves tinnitus.

 

Thanks for the kind words, @jocke.

 

Thank you Tom.

These stats are uplifting and will help some of us go on with our day without thinking too much of T.

My T is from one 2 hour concert so I am still hoping that it will subside someday. -- In the meantime, I am taking better care of myself, trying supplements, and staying busy..

 

Hi @John Meyers, I notice you have had T for almost two years. Have you noticed any improvement during that time? I'm just over seven months in and I've recently started having a few days where it where it will be unusually quiet at times. Unfortunately I still have a regular feeling of fullness in my ears, occasional ear pain, and an annoying reactive whistle that gets worse when I'm tired. Do or did you have any of these other symptoms too?

 

Regarding waiting to play jazz again, I am 74, and in otherwise good health. These pro musician ear plugs are $260. I can't wait that long to do what I love. I tried it Sunday, and these plugs are form fitted, and you can hear with perfect pitch, and it didn't reach the damage level of db. At home I can wear no or very light plugs and it's not bad. The ones I got are from "Westone"

 

Which ones did you get?

 

Anyone have success taking Magnesium pills? Read about one on this site who enjoyed tremendous improvement!

 

Westone is the ear plug brand. They fit them to each ear by making a mold first, then they are individually made and formed after your mold of each ear!

 

Only one way to find out, give them a go and see what happens my friend.

 

Hello Casper,

Mine is a consistent dentist drill in my right ear.

I was doing pretty good until 6 months ago when I was not eating healthy and working out like I should.

More recently, I spike it by going to a loud outdoor fest and not using an ear plug.

On a brighter note, I do read the success stories and a few had noise induced suffers like us who fully recovered after about 3 years. -- Seems like a long time but I can't believe it's been almost 2 years already.

I still kick myself everyday since what I did was so avoidable and I was being a careless drunk.

Starting last weee, I am also taking Magnesium, Zink and Ginko everyday which seems to help.

That is actually a good sign if yours fluctuates. I don't have any of those symptoms. How is your hearing?

 

I hope your spike went down again? I don't think I'll ever go to a live music event again.

Yes, I haven't yet given up hope that it may still go away completely. I've even come across a case where it went away after four years.

Same here, except I was driving and thus sober. The music was uncomfortably loud and I wanted to leave, but decided to stay because my friend really wanted to see the last band. I'll probably regret that decision for the rest of my life.

I took a hearing test (up to 8kHz) one month after the noise exposure, and it only showed one or two dips of 10dB and 20dB in the very low frequencies. The ENT told me that anything below 25dB is not indicative of hearing loss, and described my hearing as "acute". Even if my hearing is fine, there's no doubt in my mind that I did very severe damage to my hearing, given that I still experience pain for no apparent reason seven months after the exposure. I'm going back for my six-month follow-up in a few weeks, when I'll probably take another hearing test. Do you have any measurable hearing loss?

 

Seems to help in what John?

 

@John Meyers @Casper do you all think it's possible for the T to go away even if you have hearing loss? My hearing is between 0-10 db all the way up to 8hz. However I've never been tested above that hz. I'm certain my hearing would fall below 10 db if it were tested at a higher range.

 

Hey @Christokp, if your audiogram shows no hearing loss greater than 10dB from 250Hz to 8kHz, then I think most ENTs would argue that your hearing is perfect in that range. Everyone loses hearing as they age, but typically age-related hearing loss starts in the higher frequencies (above 8kHz), because the hair cells responding to these frequencies are closer to the opening of the cochlea. There are several hearing tests online where you can listen to sounds up to 20kHz, but you'll probably need a speaker of higher quality than the built-in one in your phone or computer. Do you know the frequency of your T?

 

@ Casper my T is right about 9hz.

 

Hey @Christokp, I'm assuming you mean 9kHz, because I don't think humans can hear as low as 9Hz (the generally accepted range is 20Hz - 20kHz). I've seen people mention that the frequency of your T often matches the frequency of your hearing loss, so it's possible that your hearing loss is at 9kHz (which would not show up on a standard audiogram).

Have you tried playing a pure tone and slowly increasing the frequency from about 8kHz to 10kHz? You may notice a particular frequency where you struggle to hear the tone. You can use this app: https://www.audionotch.com/app/tune-wf/ Be advised, however, that my T often increases in volume for a few minutes after listening to pure tones like these, so I don't like to do it often.

 

I'm not sure since I never researched T's affiliation with hearing loss.

I would listen to Casper since it sounds like he knows what he is talking about. (puns not intended