When you first notice that ringing in your ears you may have a very common response: pretend everything’s good. You go through your day the same way you always do: you do your shopping, you make dinner, you attempt to have a discussion with your partner. All the while, you’re attempting to force that ringing in your ear out of your mind. Because you’re convinced of one thing: your tinnitus will go away by itself.
You begin to get concerned, though, when after a few days the ringing and buzzing is unrelenting.
You aren’t the only one to ever be in this situation. sometimes tinnitus will go away by itself, and other times it will linger on and that’s why it’s a challenging little condition.
When Tinnitus is Likely to Go Away by Itself
Around the world, nearly everybody has had a bout of tinnitus because it’s very common. In almost all circumstances, tinnitus is essentially temporary and will eventually go away on its own. A rock concert is a good example: you go to your local arena to see your favorite band and you discover, when you get back home, that your ears are ringing.
Within a couple of days the type of tinnitus associated with damage from loud noise will commonly disappear (but you realize that it’s just part of going to a loud performance).
Naturally, it’s precisely this kind of noise injury that, over time, can cause loss of hearing to move from temporary (or acute, as they say) to chronic. Too many of those kinds of concerts and you may end up with permanent tinnitus.
Often Times, Tinnitus Doesn’t Just Disappear
If your tinnitus lingers for over three months it’s then identified as chronic tinnitus (but you should have it examined by an expert long before that).
Around 5-15% of people globally have recorded signs of chronic tinnitus. While there are some recognized close associations (like hearing loss, for instance), the causes of tinnitus aren’t yet really comprehended.
When the triggers of your tinnitus aren’t clear, it normally means that a quick “cure” will be elusive. There is a good possibility that your tinnitus won’t recede by itself if you have been hearing the ringing for more than three months. In those cases, there are treatment options available (like cognitive behavioral therapy or noise-canceling devices) that can help you deal with symptoms and maintain your quality of life.
It’s Important to Know What The Cause of Your Tinnitus is
It becomes much simpler to mitigate the symptoms of tinnitus when you are able to establish the underlying causes. If a bacterial ear infection is, for instance, the reason for your tinnitus, you can revive a healthy ear and clear hearing by managing it with antibiotics.
Here are some possible causes of acute tinnitus:
- Eardrum damage (such as a perforated eardrum)
- A blockage in the ear or ear canal
- Hearing loss (again, this is often associated with chronic tinnitus)
- Chronic ear infections
- Meniere’s disease (this is often associated with chronic tinnitus, as Meniere’s has no cure)
So…Will The Buzzing in My Ears Stop?
The truth is that in most cases, yes, your tinnitus will recede on its own. But the longer it hangs around, the longer you hear tinnitus noises, the more likely it becomes that you’re experiencing chronic tinnitus.
You can convince yourself there’s nothing wrong and hope that the noises will simply go away. But sooner or later, your tinnitus could become distressing and it may become hard to concentrate on anything else. In those circumstances, crossing your fingers might not be the extensive treatment plan you need.
In most situations, though, as a matter of fact, throughout most of your life, your tinnitus will normally go away on its own, a normal response to a noisy environment (and your body’s method of telling you to stay away from that environment from now on). Whether that’s chronic or acute tinnitus, well, only time will tell.