Studies Confirm Tinnitus Improves Over Time

http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/pages/1191

New research recently presented at the BSA Conference has confirmed that tinnitus impact does improve over time

Part of the counselling provided to tinnitus patients involves reassurance that both the emotional impact of tinnitus and tinnitus severity will improve with time. However, this study is the first support this statement and to quantify any such improvement from a systematic review and meta analysis of the tinnitus literature.

Comments David Stockdale, BTA Chief Executive, "People with tinnitus are often told "it does get better" and this is a very important study, as for the first time it gives us robust evidence to back this statement up."

He adds, "To show that tinnitus severity can and does generally improve without intervention will hopefully provide reassurance for those currently waiting for treatment."

The review was conducted by John Phillips, Consultant ENT Surgeon, Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Don McFerran, Consultant Otolaryngologist, Colchester Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust; Deborah Hall and Derek Hoare of NIHR Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Unit.

 

I'm sorry to say this but

BS.

 

You really aren't in a position to know this Beste, you've only just got it.

If it was BS then this forum and the world would be absolutely overrun with people in trauma. The facts are kind of right in front of you - this is exactly why tinnitus isn't taken as seriously as we want it to be. Most people get along okay and it fades over time.

In fact TT is a living example, people come along and look for help but they leave as they improve. I will be surprised if you aren't one of the group that just gets back to their lives soon, once you beat the anxiety reaction to tinnitus.

 

IMO, this study is one of those "we cannot fix it but you can overcome it. Well done"

Yes, I'm still in acute phase but why my tinnitus got worse and worse? These kinds of studies, unfortunately, do not work for me since I have those suicidal thoughts more frequently since my tinnitus keeps getting worse. Plus, I know a couple of cases killed themselves after years and years of tinnitus. I'm just really desperate.

 

There are many reasons why it can get worse, a lot is linked to feeling like you're in a black hole and it's only going to get worse. I honestly don't know how bad yours is but I hear mine constantly and it's pretty loud, it changes and also has a physical component where I often get to the end of the day with a jet engine screaming in my head.

If you react to it and monitor it and tell yourself how bad it is then you are creating the worst environment. All you are doing is making yourself worse with negative reinforcement - I know because I did it in the early days as I had little to no information or understanding and I made myself worse by doing it.

 

Very true, like Steve said, that's why this forum gets new members every day, but also people leave this forum every day. Steve would you say that you are 100% habituated?

 

Yes, my tinnitus sounds like yours. Mine used to be mild but now I have head buzzing which is impossible to mask. Last night I tried your latest sound generator and even it did not work for me.

I hope I'll habituate to my tinnitus too.

 

Depends when you ask me

I have had spikes in the past and lost the habituation I had, which took time to return.

On the whole yes I am habituated but I still get annoyed and frustrated with tinnitus - mine does fluctuate sometimes (like I said above, usually worse in the evenings) so it would be easier if it were constant. Contrary to what some practitioners say, volume does matter.

 

I think.. it might be possible for some people Ts to fade away...
Everyone under the 6 months have a decent chance for it to go away.
and for some others it might get better (habituation)
the problem is that theres a % of people with chronic tinnitus, and they just have to "cope" and sometimes it doesnt get "better" with time.
and this type of articles or "studies" are the reason why... they cant find or care to find a cure.
this problem needs to be taken seriously.
i dont wanna sound dramatic or negative, but no one deserve to deal with this problem.
im glad it gets better, but we need to join forces for those who have it worst than us.

 

Hey Markku
I really do not know what happened. My T was never that loud. My head hissing is now almost unbearable. All I know is I did some course of DIY neuromodulation without my headphones. Maybe that is the cause but I cannot blame it since I'm not sure. The hissing got so bad that I do not hear my morse code T. I feel like my head is buzzing. This spike got me want to give Trobalt a try.

 

THIS ... is ...TRUE. You can make almost anything worse (or better) with the kind of attention you give to it, from a hangnail all the way on up to tinnitus. There are times when I'm feeling better or REALLY involved in heavy-duty pleasant busyness (such as prepping for something with a deadline) when the exact same level of tinnitus is not as bothersome as noticeable as at other times when I may be feeling a bit emotionally draggy/down that day, and the tinnitus seems worse.

Give it a chance, @Beste .

I will also copy-paste THIS (I don't know who to credit with it, but maybe I even took it off of this forum a while ago). It resonated with me:

"Just a Reminder

Never identify an illness or dis-ease with yourself. Don't say MY cold, MY sore throat, MY migraine headache, MY tumor or MY cancer. The cells in your body are always listening to your thoughts. Nobody should try to tackle any disease with the idea that it's THEIR disease. These conditions don't belong to you! They've just come across your path.

Instead talk differently to yourself; my strength, my courage, my healthy body--these are the things you want to be owning,

The placebo effect is a perfect example of the minds power over physical disease. And illness of the body registers as being an illness in your consciousness. When your consciousness shifts to one of health, the body must also shift to align to health.

Next time you feel sickness coming on, try visualizing healing on yourself and stay in a healthy positive state of mind. Meditate daily, and do something fun and uplifting. Don't let the thought of being sick take over your being. You will be amazed at how much healthier you feel when you align yourself with the presence of health and wholeness.

Love Holistic Angel"

 

I don't really know but I have one year with extremely severe tinnitus, I have like a high power transformer in my head and in both of my ears like two jet engines in my ears very low never come down. It is supposed to be getting better between four and six months and I don't see the light. I do everything in the world to get better. Nothing is working so I don't know how long is it really take to get better. Every day, every minute, every second of my life is dark. The only reason I'm alive is my kids and my family.

 

The "impact" improves with time.

Isn't this just basically saying most people learn to cope with it over time?

 

As much as it sucks to hear at first, it is true in most cases that time is the best healer. Whether it's habituation or an actual improvement in tinnitus, most of us do get to a point at which we can function normally and move on with our lives.

I'm doing a lot better than I was a couple years back when I dealing with tinnitus and full blown hyperacusis. And I've noticed most of the regular users that used to post here in 2012 - 2014 are mostly gone with a few exceptions.

 

@Penate You've 'tried everything'? Nothing will bring the level of tinnitus down a bit? What have you tried?
Cranial neck therapy, TRT, CBT, acupuncture, barometric (sp) oxygen chamber, massage, UVI, low laser light therapy, being prayed for regularly, prayer, etc, and others on the list of about 30-40+ possible treatments? I pray that with prayer, study, and divine strategy you will be able to find hope and a path through this where you will find your joy return.

 

I agree with this. 2 years ago, the low pitch T in my right ear was horrible. It's way quieter now, although my left ear is now the problem. I'm hoping in a couple of years it will quiet down too. I don't really remember what silence sounds like now. I can sort if imagine it, but it's hard to recall exactly what it was like.

 

Well I was told it gets better after 3 months or so. At almost 6 months it's still very difficult to deal with and always on my mind.
Maybe of you have mild tinnitus that you can only hear in a quiet place or when you plug your ears it gets better in about 3 months.

I agree with the people that mentioned before; volume does matter. So does frequency I think, but to a lesser extent than volume.

 

The initial "freaking out" part does get better for most people. The habituation part is not just learning how to cope with it. The brain is VERY slowly learning to choose new neural paths and learning to pay attention to more important things. I don't know if I will ever completely habituate but I am better now than I was three years ago. I would prefer that they study how to help me though, instead of how not to help me.

 

Haha
But not helping is so much easier and straight forward.

 

Darn you yonkapin!! You had to remind me. You know I really thought I had you fooled with my new avatar.

 

Hi Everyone, it's been a while but when I saw this lead post on my FB feed and read your post @Beste it started pulling on the old heart strings and had to reply and 2nd what @Steve and others have posted.

The first few years from my T onset, I swear it was getting worse everyday and especially when I was exposed to a sound that I deemed loud, it probably took up to 5 years till my T seemed to level off and stop worsening, I didn't realize it at the time, but learned later about habituation, connected the dots, and found that my T was the same volume as it always was, I had just got used to it and was slowly over that time starting to live my life again and habituate.

Fast forward 20 years and an increase in T due to ear suction and I went through the cycle again, admittedly, it was a lot quicker to habituate this time.

My T hasn't decreased as such over the last 26 years as far as volume is concerned,( It's actually louder now due to my relapse) but it has leveled out to more softer tones, which seem to be a more pleasant sound than when it first showed it's ugly head. My T is a lot like @Steve 's, At times it roars like a jet engine at the end of a some days and other days it almost disappears from my right ear only to return the next day with a vengeance!

I don't think T gets better with time, the way you react to it definitely does, you learn to accept it and carry on as best you can, well with mine anyway, it's always there every second of the day but I think I'm just not scared of it anymore and know that because of this I will never ever have noise induced hearing loss!, (always a bright side to everything!)

You will habituate @Beste , in your own time and it may even happen without you realizing it, your T will seem to get worse in these first months maybe years until your body, brain and you accept whats happened and adjust which unfortunately can take a while, But don't force it, do things that help you not to think about it, turn to as many of your family and loved ones and of course TT for support, you will get through it!

Hope that helps.

Rich

 

Exactly.

This doesn't mean that it will become quieter, it just means that we adapt to the change and it stops becoming as much of an issue. When mine is loud these days I generally just think "p**s off" and get irritated, in the early days I would have been a mess.

@RichL Good advice, well put. Like a wise Jedi returning to the Padawans to spread knowledge

 

Thank you @Steve for this news

By the way if a "total" cure will be discovered one day, it will be the second best day for us.

( The first best day will be our habituation )

 

I start to understand why there is no eficient cure yet ,because there is a study that cofirms tinnitus improves over time. So we have to thank these researches

 

Yeah, it's a double edged sword this one. It's good to hear that you will not be as impacted by it in the course of time but at the same time it's not good to have specialists thinking there's no point in doing anything as you will improve by yourself (I'm sure - I hope - they don't).

 

I am very sad about this. I know that "everything" It can become better over time: The mourning, the end of a relationship, tinnitus .. No need for a study about. Live or die: it is normal to adapt in high percentage. ADAPT no to be "so happy" with T. But what this study mean? Forget about a cure? I am scary by this study and future of T cure. And now I'm hating BTA.

 

That's just the thing, tinnitus doesn't necessarily improve over time, all they have shown is people learn to deal with it better over time, which should be obvious.
People learn to cope with all sorts of horrendous things over time.

The impact of a condition improving over time should not be conflated with the condition itself improving over time.

 

I must say that the more I read the wording of the above, it was irresponsibly worded. It does give the impression that tinnitus, like the common cold, is just a "little bother" of life!

It does not convey the seriousness of the condition (which is distressing EVEN in its "mild" form)!

" ... reassurance for those currently waiting for treatment ... "

I would rather they focus on the treatment part! Yes, sure, reassure all you want! But this message does convey that people are fine, just sitting around with their ears ringing, waiting for treatment. Again, if this was such a benign thing, would this association even need to EXIST?!?

I think this could have been said better. Maybe a nice, meaty sentence in there about the seriousness of going from silence to non-stop internal cacaphony without treatment available???

I understand the intent behind reassuring patients that things can improve. But to make that the gist of the message, as if the condition itself is therefore overall benign (which we and they know it is not) is ...

??????????????????????????????????

 

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