Don't Know Who to Believe About Tinnitus Being Temporary / Permanent

[Jason37]

Had ENT tell me tinnitus can go away even after hearing loss occurred from acoustic trauma... read multiple accounts of shooters having slight hearing loss and tinnitus going away after 6 months, 9 months, 15 months and even 2 1/2 years.

And I had another ENT tell me after three weeks it's permanent... as well as reading a few posters saying there is no hope because of hearing loss.

Which one is it? I don't know how to approach it. Give up hope that it can or just accept it's here forever which literally terrifies me to no end.

 

[GregCA]

Not sure this belongs in Success Stories... but to answer you: nobody can really tell you for sure. We can just go by statistics, and it turns out that for a good amount of people, T just fades away in time. For a small minority, it persists.

 

[Jason37]

thought i was in general

 

[Bill Bauer]

Had ENT tell me tinnitus can go away even after hearing loss occurred from acoustic trauma... read multiple accounts of shooters having slight hearing loss and tinnitus going away after 6 months, 9 months, 15 months and even 2 1/2 years.

The person above is right. Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/

I had another ENT tell me after three weeks it's permanent...

This person has no clue what he or she is talking about.

Back when I spent a lot of time learning about T, I saw multiple sources mentioning that "2 years" rule of thumb. I am having trouble finding those sources, but a quick search resulted in
https://www.ncrar.research.va.gov/Education/Documents/TinnitusDocuments/01_HenryPTM-HB_1-10.pdf
"A general guideline is that tinnitus of at least 12 months duration has a high likelihood of being a permanent condition (Dobie, 2004b). However, it also has been suggested that a person must have experienced tinnitus for at least two years before it should be considered permanent (Vernon, 1996)."
Link to Dobie 2004: https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en...AfBTNxz1AY#v=onepage&q=dobie tinnitus&f=false

"Six months" is just a time interval that insurance companies use to classify a condition as being chronic. It has no medical basis.

Many members of this forum state that the first time they got tinnitus, they eventually got to hear silence after 12-18 months. This is evidence contradicting the statement above from that Dobbie 2004 study.

 

[fishbone]

Had ENT tell me tinnitus can go away even after hearing loss occurred from acoustic trauma... read multiple accounts of shooters having slight hearing loss and tinnitus going away after 6 months, 9 months, 15 months and even 2 1/2 years.

And I had another ENT tell me after three weeks it's permanent... as well as reading a few posters saying there is no hope because of hearing loss.

Which one is it? I don't know how to approach it. Give up hope that it can or just accept it's here forever which literally terrifies me to no end.

I been at this 30 years and there is no guarantee if tinnitus will stay or go away. Time will only tell what happens. You can adjust and live your life, even with tinnitus. Takes patience and practice, but it can be done.

 

[yborleevoor]

It could take years, you've had it for quite awhile. Have you habituated at all to the sound?

 

[dpdx]

My two friends had it for 20 years, they are totally habituated and dont get any spikes. One wears ear protection while going to concerts/cinema, the other dosent lol

 

[Bill Bauer]

My two friends had it for 20 years, they are totally habituated

You said they said they had habituated right away. It is possible this happened because their T is very quiet. Ask them how loud it is now.

 

[dpdx]

You said they said they had habituated right away. It is possible this happened because their T is very quiet. Ask them how loud it is now.

They can still hear it, but mostly in quiet places. They dont have spikes though.

 

[Bill Bauer]

They dont have spikes though.

That's good to know.

Did they have spikes during their first year after onset?

 

[dpdx]

That's good to know.

Did they have spikes during their first year after onset?

No

 

[dpdx]

They didnt have H or ear fullness, we are more severe cases, hence why we are on this forum

 

[Jason37]

I didn't have H and I can't tell any difference with my hearing. But I am finding it hard to habituated to this wavering intermentant electrical sound. The other tone I can't even hear at night most of the time unless i plug my ears. The electrical sound speeds up and down...sometimes so soft it's not there. I probobly shouldn't be on here and not worry so much...but honestly thus site is the only place I have found any hope and good advice on dealing with it. Regular folks just look at me like I'm stupid and I only have one real support person in real life. I should not check TT so much though as I tend to get anxious as T takes up 98 percent of my thought.

 

[Bill Bauer]

But I am finding it hard to habituated to this wavering intermentant electrical sound.

When did you begin hearing this electrical sound?

 

[Jason37]

it was a washer sound then it turned into intermentant electrical sound 4 months ago

 

[Bill Bauer]

Have you been protecting your ears from moderate sounds like that of a vacuum cleaner?

 

[Jason37]

yes...it was covered up by the tone sound until it went away. the electrical sound is really soft hiss but intermetant. Also it kind of really goes to almost nothing but just sticks around

 

[Bill Bauer]

the electrical sound is really soft hiss

Oh, in THAT case, it is a sign that your body is healing. After a severe acoustic trauma one gets to listen to loud crickets. As one heals, the sound changes to a high pitch tone, and then to a hiss (first to an intense, high pitch hiss, and then to a soft hiss). If one were to get a new acoustic trauma, then one's hiss will change to one of the other types of sounds. The fact that it is intermittent is also a sign that you are more healed than someone whose sound is steady and relentless. Hopefully as time passes, you will be experiencing more and more improvement.

 

[Jason37]

Well I really hope so. I feel fortunate it is mild but I still struggle with the fact I made such a mistake and did it to myself after always being so careful. I just am so mad I may have damaged myself permanently. But I am praying for the best and maybe there is a chance for it to leave.

 

[Rohit Saluja]

As one heals, the sound changes to a high pitch tone, and then to a hiss (first to an intense, high pitch hiss, and then to a soft hiss).

Agree i also experience the same my sound is changed from high pitched to static tv/hiss kind of.

 

[john paul]

Its very confusing, even the term chronic in medicine basically just means in it for the long haul. Most of the time anyone suffering for more than 3 months is considered chronic but this does not mean permanent. When your ENT says after 3 weeks its permanant they probably sort of mean its not going away anytime soon and using a bad choice of words. Maybe a pessimistic person with not much experience is my guess.