Those Whose Noise-Induced Tinnitus Never Faded Away — Should They Have Protected Their Hearing More?

Do you think people who have never experienced their tinnitus fading away is because, while they may have avoided loud noise exposure, that maybe their ears were a special case and needed even more delicate care?

Especially when they have had a history of long-term noise exposure like music and such. That maybe they should have protected more carefully from things like loud voices, plate clatters, fans.

 

After the healing process I think the "fading" that people talk about is more habitation than anything else. My tinnitus is still here and is as loud as it was a few months after I first realized I had it two years ago. Once the damage has been done, it cannot be undone...yet. (See the Frequency Therapeutics research thread, they're working on it!) And yes, I stopped going out, invested in custom ease plugs and took better care of my ears than I ever had in my entire life! And still do. The good news is that it hasn't gotten noticeabley worse.

 

Really? Mine is fading, I lost many of the tones I started off with...

 

How long have you had tinnitus for? I'm about to go on 3 months and haven't noticed anything that will make it louder or quieter. I think this might be life long for me but I still worry almost every day that it might get worse.

 

A month. Don't worry, I read stories on here where people say theirs still fade 6 months and onwards.

 

I sure do hope so. If your tinnitus ever fades completely please let us all know I think more people including myself need stories like these.

 

It's still there. It's masked by mynoise.net at a level of 8 on my computer. And by a low fan. But I started off with a lot of tones. I had ear plugs in and it felt like a train was stopping. It just rang really loud. I don't know if I'll be one to write a success story, I sure do hope so. But I hope you experience fading and such. Be careful and protective of your ears.

 

If you've only had it for a month, you're still in the healing phase. I said after my healing phase was over (2-3 months though it can be longer) my tinnitus did not fade. Initially, yes it did. However my tinnitus is relatively mild. The most important thing for all of us is to not let it get any worse. Download a sound meter to your phone, invest in a good set of ear plugs and stay away from noisy environments!

 

Those people will never know. The people who pulled out all stops to protect their ears will benefit even if their T won't fade - they will know that they did all they could to avoid that fate.

 

For many people that healing stage is lasting a lot longer than 3 months. Having said that, the more it fades, the slower it fades.

Have you been able to avoid noise during those first 6 months after the onset?

 

Yes. I had moved to a small town and it was very easy to avoid noisy environments. One and a half years later, I moved to Orlando, FL and it's loud everywhere I go. It may be getting worse now. I went to a party this weekend where a live band was playing. My phone meter peaked at 75 dB but I personally think that level is not safe even with 25 dB musicians ear plugs. I'm starting to believe that avoidance is the right option if I want to prevent my T from getting worse.

 

That's exactly how feel too. If my T does get worse, I am glad I did everything in my power to stop it.

 

What makes you think that? 75 dB is considered a safe dB level even without earplugs.

 

The official literature says above 85 dB is where a healthy person must be careful.

https://www.noisyplanet.nidcd.nih.gov/parents/too-loud-too-long

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/noisehearingconservation/

 

Yes, I asked because I'm interested to know if these guidelines no longer apply to people with tinnitus. I'm trying to figure out what dB levels I can expose myself to without risking a worsening of my tinnitus, which may or may not be noise induced. Is there anything but anecdotal reports that these guidelines no longer apply? I value anecdotal reports of course, but every case is so different.

 

Hi Bill

I'm at 5 months now since a noise exposure (piano playing) and my tinnitus is still louder than it was and intrusive. I'm 51 and I assume healing will take longer for me, simply because of my age.

I'm just back from ENT today...my hearing results are the same as 2015 and I've been careful with loud noise. Can improvement take longer?

 

When I stopped noticing improvements on a monthly basis, I realized that I have been getting some improvement on an annual basis. In other words, there is still a chance that it fades, but the fading (should it take place) will probably be slow...

 

Slow as in years?

 

I still think yours will fade and I hope it does. I think noise induced T has all the opportunity in the world to fade, whether it be months from now, or years. The more you age, the more your boundary of hearing thins and maybe that plays a factor, too. Who knows. I hope you experience ebbing off even more.

 

Exactly. I wanna take care of my ears as much as possible while they're still vulnerable and raw and let them heal as much as they possibly can. Even if it doesn't go away. I want to give it the potential to fade as much as possible.

 

Also why you should ask for prednisone and do HBOT. They may not cure your T, but I would rather know I did it than wait until it's too late if I were you.

 

Noticeable improvement every 3-6-12 months...

 

So far for me it's been little to no improvement. 5 months in, nothing much has changed. In fact worse I'd say following a hefty chest infection and serious man flu.

 

Fade, how? Define 'fade' and what your T was and what it's like now?

Did you ever consider it loud? Did you ever tell someone you didn't think you can tolerate it any more because it was too loud/intense/high pitched?

 

Yup. It was loud. Blaring. I sat in the bathroom and cried for hours, the screech of a train coming to a stop, and the broken sound of morse code further enunciating how broken my ears and brain were. I had many different tones and when aggravated, the train would finally speed up and set it's course. I had bird song in my mind, but couldn't hear the birds chirping in the real world even with the abnormal heightened sense of sound. I could hear it over the fan, on the highest level. Over the faucet of a running sink and it would implant the sound of it there, so I never got any solace from how horrid sounding it was. In the car. With cars rolling down the high way, the tones overshadowed it, covered any natural sound that my heart just craved for and I was suicidal and drove mad. Slowly, the sounds dropped though, the railway churning on gave way to a gentleness. I don't know. It was high pitched. I still have a high pitched tone that tries to mask itself to any other sound it can get it's hands on, but I try to relax. Try to tell myself, while it's not okay, it can get better, and I'm safe, because I know I'm not putting myself in harm's way of any damaging or too loud sounds. It's hard. So hard. I struggle. But they're going down in volume, intensity and fading. Hang on, Pete.

 

Do you guys mean fade as in lowering in volume and/or pitch and/or intensity? Or habituation (which I don't think is the same)?
Mine is going haywire currently. I actually had at least 24 hrs or more without this sound for the first time. I think.
Anyway, if it doesn't go down in volume/pitch and intensity, I will probably hang myself or something.

People with mild tinnitus and/who have habituated to mild/moderate tinnitus are telling me to relax and calm down. That's all I do until it goes haywire. Easy for them to say that.

How do I protect my ears? Plugs irritated my ear canals. I bring my muffs with me and I avoid overly loud noise. But, should I avoid driving, walks in the city, visiting family? Which ear plugs do you recommend for sensitive ear canals?

I put up with the tinkering noise but this I have at the moment is awful. When does this fade?!?

 

If you are experiencing silence, Pete - something I have not since onset - then you have all the reason in the world to hang on. You have to, you should want to just to give yourself the opportunity of it fading and potentially resolving itself.

 

Things can improve for you, PeteJ. I'll send you the list of successful recoveries of T that I have from this board - minimal habituation. The fact that you've had some silence is a good thing!

 

When I say silence, I don't know if I would classify it as true silence but when you try to 'hear' it and can't tell - I have done this in my bathroom (quietest room in the apt), my car and with my ear muffs on, so little outside noise if any was present, it is close enough, I guess.

But, it's rare and doesn't last long. If it lasted longer and was more often, I might consider it fading.

 

I wish I was able to experience that. That is a good sign though, I'm pretty sure.