Studies Confirm Tinnitus Improves Over Time

[Forever hopeful]

I do believe folks have posted improvement on Tinnitus Talk. I don't think it always gets worse. There's a whole populace of people who are here for a short period of time and then move on and you never hear from them again. And some come back and write success stories. We are not necessarily representative of the average person with tinnitus. Most of us are here because we're struggling.

 

[Frédéric]

Like you, I am not one of those people whose tinnitus decreases in loudness or distress over time from its onset.

Short- and long-term changes in auditory sensitivity and tinnitus distress between acute and chronic tinnitus: longitudinal observation in a community-based sample

 

[kingsfan]

 

[Julio G]

I can confirm that. Tinnitus has become a less significant issue in my life after a year. When it first started, I was deeply depressed and lost 10 pounds in just two weeks. I needed prescription sleep medication to get any decent rest, and even with the medication, I still would not wake up feeling fully rested.

Now, I am able to sleep through the entire night, and I am no longer depressed. Yes, it still bothers me at times, but I forget about it for long stretches, and it does not affect me nearly as much anymore. I have more or less gotten used to it and can focus on other things. It also feels softer now.

 

[Joeseph Stope]

I can confirm that. Tinnitus has become a less significant issue in my life after a year. When it first started, I was deeply depressed and lost 10 pounds in just two weeks. I needed prescription sleep medication to get any decent rest, and even with the medication, I still would not wake up feeling fully rested.

Now, I am able to sleep through the entire night, and I am no longer depressed. Yes, it still bothers me at times, but I forget about it for long stretches, and it does not affect me nearly as much anymore. I have more or less gotten used to it and can focus on other things. It also feels softer now.

I hate to rain on your parade, but you might be making a judgment too soon.

While it's true that many people learn to habituate to their tinnitus, in my case it only began to improve slightly after one year. Even then, it was still a major bother. I tried Tinnitus Retraining Therapy when it first came out in the late 1990s, and it did me a lot of good.

But I have reactive tinnitus, so I could live quite peacefully for weeks—until something like a car backfiring, a loud fire alarm, or a firecracker went off and caused a spike. That old remedy or hope used to work reliably, and the spike would eventually subside. Until it didn't.

It could be that the cumulative effect of those noise incidents caused further damage. It could also be age-related tinnitus (presbycusis), which might amount to the same thing. But at this point, I'm pretty much back to the level it was at in 1992.

 

[kingsfan]

I hate to rain on your parade, but you might be making a judgment too soon.

While it's true that many people learn to habituate to their tinnitus, in my case it only began to improve slightly after one year. Even then, it was still a major bother. I tried Tinnitus Retraining Therapy when it first came out in the late 1990s, and it did me a lot of good.

But I have reactive tinnitus, so I could live quite peacefully for weeks—until something like a car backfiring, a loud fire alarm, or a firecracker went off and caused a spike. That old remedy or hope used to work reliably, and the spike would eventually subside. Until it didn't.

It could be that the cumulative effect of those noise incidents caused further damage. It could also be age-related tinnitus (presbycusis), which might amount to the same thing. But at this point, I'm pretty much back to the level it was at in 1992.

This has been my experience over the past few years. The first year I had spikes, but I could pretty much do what I wanted (staying away from clubs and bars obviously), and everything stayed relatively constant.

Now anything slightly loud, even with earplugs, sets off spikes that last weeks. I don't even know what my baseline is anymore; it's just constantly all over the place. I believe the baseline has just been steadily elevating. And now I have some noxacusis symptoms too.

 

[Julio G]

I hate to rain on your parade, but you might be making a judgment too soon.

While it's true that many people learn to habituate to their tinnitus, in my case it only began to improve slightly after one year. Even then, it was still a major bother. I tried Tinnitus Retraining Therapy when it first came out in the late 1990s, and it did me a lot of good.

But I have reactive tinnitus, so I could live quite peacefully for weeks—until something like a car backfiring, a loud fire alarm, or a firecracker went off and caused a spike. That old remedy or hope used to work reliably, and the spike would eventually subside. Until it didn't.

It could be that the cumulative effect of those noise incidents caused further damage. It could also be age-related tinnitus (presbycusis), which might amount to the same thing. But at this point, I'm pretty much back to the level it was at in 1992.

I hope it gets better for you eventually. It still bothers me sometimes, but I am learning to ignore it and manage the anxiety.

This has been my experience over the past few years. The first year I had spikes, but I could pretty much do what I wanted (staying away from clubs and bars obviously), and everything stayed relatively constant.

Now anything slightly loud, even with earplugs, sets off spikes that last weeks. I don't even know what my baseline is anymore; it's just constantly all over the place. I believe the baseline has just been steadily elevating. And now I have some noxacusis symptoms too.

Sometimes I believe having reactive tinnitus is easier to handle. In my case, silence is what triggers it, so it is almost impossible to manage. I feel better when I am outside or always listening to something.

But if your tinnitus is reactive, that might mean silence is actually helpful for you. Why not try wearing earplugs when you go outside?

I would consider wearing earplugs with hearing aids over them. The hearing aids can help keep the volume at a controlled level so you can still hear people, while the earplugs offer protection from unpredictable or loud noise.

 

[dant06]

Tinnitus improves over time? No way. I have been a sufferer for 44 years, and I know it does not.

 

[Alberte]

No way, for me too. It has been more than ten years, and it does not improve.

 

[withintention]

The participants in this study were selected because their tinnitus went into remission. It is trying to categorize why. For some people, it does. For those of us here for a long time, it doesn't.

 

[Furetto]

It's great to see one positive post that gives hope, yet it seems that immediately a hundred people rush in with discouraging comments saying there is no hope.

 

[delta784]

Tinnitus improves over time? No way. I have been a sufferer for 44 years, and I know it does not.

What caused your tinnitus?

 

[AfroSnowman]

It's great to see one positive post that gives hope, yet it seems that immediately a hundred people rush in with discouraging comments saying there is no hope.

IDK, my sample size is only n=1, but I've had 0% improvement over time. I'm still glad to see other people getting better, though.

 

[Mjm66]

A more realistic statement would be: "For some people, tinnitus can get better over time, and it often depends on the root cause of their tinnitus." My tinnitus is related to hearing loss. While it was mild for more than 30 years, it never improved, and over the past two years—since I turned 65—it has become much worse, likely due to age-related changes.

Hearing aids and sound masking provide some relief, but the tinnitus is now severe in my left ear and moderate in my right. Life goes on, but tinnitus has definitely become a much bigger factor for me.

 

[kingsfan]

It's great to see one positive post that gives hope, yet it seems that immediately a hundred people rush in with discouraging comments saying there is no hope.

Because it downplays the condition. The URL to the article is even a 404 now, if that says anything.

 

[Joeseph Stope]

This has been my experience over the past few years. The first year I had spikes, but I could pretty much do what I wanted (staying away from clubs and bars obviously), and everything stayed relatively constant.

Now anything slightly loud, even with earplugs, sets off spikes that last weeks. I don't even know what my baseline is anymore; it's just constantly all over the place. I believe the baseline has just been steadily elevating. And now I have some noxacusis symptoms too.

In the case of early-onset tinnitus patients, I can easily understand the difficulty of wrestling with a changed auditory world of constant ringing, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. That would naturally involve a psychological factor—the panic of trying to find a therapy or medicine that "works" before tinnitus becomes chronic and the window of opportunity closes. Hyperacusis and reactive tinnitus only add to the torment.

As for me, who is good at mathematics? 2025 minus 1992 equals 33, I think. So last May or June marked my 33rd "tinnitus birthday," and the psychological impact has lessened a lot over time.

Nonetheless, I still get frequent spikes, usually from loud noise such as motorbikes, heavy goods vehicles, or even ordinary cars with faulty silencers. I no longer go to bars. Some triggers are easy to forget or overlook. For example, I know that herbs containing salicylates can cause my tinnitus to spike, yet last week I had roast chicken with rosemary and it sent my tinnitus soaring.

Another neglected factor is the pillow you sleep on. Some pillows or pillow covers can create suction if you lie on your side. It is worth checking what is beneath the pillowcase, or even changing it. I usually sleep on my left side, and my tinnitus is on the left.

There are also risks from colds, flu, possibly COVID, and of course the medications one might need to treat those infections.

Despite everything, I find it fascinating to read research articles on tinnitus. I am not expecting a cure, but if scientists can figure out the connections between different types of cochlear damage and the forms of tinnitus, that would be a major step forward in understanding the nature of the beast. For example, if scientists were able to demonstrate that damaged synapses cause hyperacusis—and I believe they have already proven that damaged hair cells are associated with tinnitus as well as with hearing loss—then what effect might damaged stereocilia have?

And yes, it is possible to influence tinnitus. I proved it myself last week with roast chicken and rosemary, which sent my tinnitus sky high. So the question is: what medicine, herb, or pharmaceutical could bring it back down to earth?