Hi there,
I got tinnitus back in April 2019. It was bad, really bad, 10/10 bad. My tinnitus played 13 different tones in both ears. I heard noises of whistling, beeping, ringing, drones, humming, you name it! I had hyperacusis. I had tinnitus that kept me awake all nights for a couple of months. I had disoriented hearing. That's why I could hear my tinnitus over every external sound. Not even the shower could mask it. My ears were swollen and hurt badly. I wanted to die. You can read my old threads from back then if you like to know what happened and how much I suffered.
My short back story is that I got tinnitus from a loud noise in a tunnel, it was a 130-140 dB sound from a jackhammer working on concrete. It literally hammered my hearing away. Well I never lost my hearing but I got this so called "hidden" hearing loss.
Time passed... I just gave it time and patience. I protected my hearing by being careful. This part was so hard. I wanted my old life back, I got depressed, my life was ruined. Everything. Tinnitus took my life away. But, it started to get better. The changes were so subtle that I almost didn't notice them, but they did happen.
I was about 3 years in when I really could see a big difference. Both tinnitus and hyperacusis started to disappear more and more. The disoriented hearing totally vanished after about two years. My 13 tinnitus tones disappeared one after another... I still got some left, but today, from 10/10 bad (I would say 12/10 bad), I'm at 1/10. I hardly notice my tinnitus anymore. It's just a faint ringing and a soft hiss/cricket. Some noises still hurt my ears but I protect them if anything gets too loud.
I can finally live a normal life. I work, I hang out with friends and with my adorable daughter. She's the reason why I just kept on moving forward and she made me brave. She's my heart
She went with me in the tunnel that day when it all happened, at only 9 months old. But guess what? She hasn't got tinnitus! All these years I worried so bad for her hearing. Today she is five years old. Big girl!
I never worry about my tinnitus, I worry more about my disastrous dating life.
So what I want to say is that I used to be someone with bad tinnitus, but it truly healed. All I really could do was to give it time, patience and to be careful, and I'm still careful. But I live my life fully. I'm finally free. Tinnitus and hyperacusis are not my biggest issues anymore.
What I'm trying to say is that noise-induced tinnitus and hyperacusis can get better with time. Protect your hearing, live healthy and try to just keep on going. It can get better