Noise-Induced Tinnitus Recovery After 2 Years (Not Habituation)

[Sarah Russett]

Do these people who have their tinnitus disappear experience spikes/fleeting increasing tinnitus during their suffering?

yeah I experienced momentary T spikes and I also experienced many many days where I thought I was making progress and my T was SO quiet and then the next day it would be p loud for a while again. and it had me questioning everything constantly before it finally decreased to a point where I could be 100% sure that it HAD in fact decreased a lot (like when the ringing finally went and I could only ever hear white noise and then that decreased more, etc.) so those are things to keep in mind

 

[RonnieCarzatto]

@Sarah Russett

Incredible and interesting... thank you for replying to message... I appreciate it!

 

[John Meyers]

Encouraging story. Thanks!

I'm at 20 months with no change in noise level and mine is from one 2 hour concert..

It does force me to exercise and eat well since that keeps away the spikes.

 

[Rick Brewer]

@Vinnitus and @jjflyman - Vinnitus, you say you haven't seen any improvement in your T and it's almost been a year. Is this because the volume hasn't receded? I'm curious... (Vinnitus and jjflyman) Both of you have the ability to compare your current T with a prior T. As your prior T was vanishing in the final days, what exactly were you hearing? I know the volume starts to decrease with ALL sounds as Gian mentioned in another post. But, I think many of us with noise-induced T are wondering if there's anything else in common for us to maintain a strong hope of recovery. For instance... After my first month of T, I noticed a pattern of more days with hissing and and fewer "better" days without hissing with a very soft high frequency tone in my head along with a faint background forever-changing high frequency tone in my left ear (like a mosquito is flying around my ear). I also hear excited neurons in the front of my brain as they amp up around louder background noise. Now, my pattern is more frequent with hissing on one day and a "better" day the next. I had my first 2-days-in-a-row "better" day last week and have been having them since. I wake up every morning very quiet with a tiny hint of what the day will bring - either hissing or a "better" day. As I'm falling asleep, I notice my hissing starts to fade. My hissing sounds seem a notch lower in the last couple of days and the hissing seems to becoming higher in pitch. Hissing moves from both ears to my head, back to my ears, then back to my head all day. Did your T become similar to mine as your good and hissing days alternated more frequently? Is there anything else to look for? P.s. My father acquired tinnitus from a cherry bomb fireworks exploding in close proximity similar to @Vinnitus . He had it for 6 or 7 years until it finally abated.

 

[Rick Brewer]

Thank you for sharing the success stories @Sarah Russett !

 

[Bobby B]

for noise induced T, age plays huge role

the military conscripts are very young with solid ears, they can recover fast or suffer little damage to start with, and I know that because I was once a military conscript myself over 25 years ago and we did lots of noisy rifle, machine guns and grenade blasts with minimal ear protection and no one ever suffered at all

now if you are a much older person, with decades of loud music and general noise exposure under the belt, and a somehow weakened inner ear, that's going to evolve into a whole different and very sad story...

 

[Bobby B]

@Rick Brewer
good story on your dad, would you mind writing a more detailed post on his story to help us out - how old he was, what is his background of previous noise exposure, what did he do after the trauma, any hearing loss etc..

 

[Elena Cooke]

I first heard tinnitus in late August of 2015. It was weird, but I was just thinking about it one day when I came across an instance of some musician having tinnitus. And I wondered what that would be like. And then all of a sudden I could hear it. You can imagine that this freaked me out a lot. It seemed like it wasn't at all real, because it'd seemed to come out of nowhere. It took me an age to accept (if I ever even fully did) that this was now the state of my ears. I don't actually think. however, that my brain just pulled the sound out of nowhere, because it was the middle of summer with crickets blaring outside my window all day every day, so I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't looking for it in a sealed room, and I /had/ been to a concert a week prior that had been far, far too loud. Painfully so. I remembered hearing ringing in my ears after leaving the venue and thinking nothing of it. I had my right ear closest to the music and had been kind of plugging my left with my finger for a while.


And now I was left with ringing in that same ear.


I don't think my T was very severe at all, but I can't really tell if it was moderate or minor. I completely lost it. I have a history of depression and it absolutely destroyed me. I left for university and kept thinking that it would go away. I read about timelines for these things. And kept bargaining and extending the "deadline" for it to go away. I told myself things like "it's still only 2 months after the fact." I changed my mind about how loud it was on the daily. I checked constantly. My first inkling that it had gotten a bit quieter was November of that year, but I changed my mind constantly about this as well. Thinking "you're kidding yourself nothing happened" and the next moment thinking "it's gonna fade it's gonna fade."


Things went on like this for months. I started to think it might actually fade around April 2016. My tone seemed to have faded into white noise, but it was still annoying, and there were days that I thought I could hear the tone again. I was still freaked out. That summer I started saying that my T was basically gone. And this was true, on some days. And not on others.


Flash forward to now, April 2017. I definitely have significant reduction in T. The bulk of that reduction happened after the 8 month mark ish. As of now, I can hear a slight bit of white noise, but is genuinely not bothersome and I'm not sure if I had it in the first place or not. I no longer feel the need to check constantly. While I do think the anxiety in the beginning (and the middle and the end ha) plays a big role in what you hear, habituation can most definitely not explain my recovery, not entirely.


I will now forever protect my ears, never put my ears in danger like that in a situation I didn't even want to be in bc it was uncomfortably loud. Still scared of clubs, but I didn't like those in the first place. In terms of what I did to improve, I'm not sure what to say. I massaged my neck, did TMJ exercises, and alternately masked with these, when anxiety was high:

http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=a_LRAI3GkOs&p=n

http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=a_LRAI3GkOs&p=n

http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=FkVX52AdX5o&p=n

I also tried to sleep in silence. I don't know if I was imagining things or not, and I know people who have done this for years and it has apparently never helped them, but I thought it helped in the long-term. I'm not sure, though.


Note: I found out I could manipulate it slightly by my neck, but I don't think it originated from TMJ, although I do have it. By bending my neck, left ear to shoulder, the tone in my right ear would disappear. I don't know what that means at all. I genuinely still think it was caused by noise damage, but I can't be sure, so I thought I'd mention that.


So anyway, I wanted to write this so that people know that things can improve after the 1 yr mark. I know it's so hard to wait. And it's terrifying. And some people will just have to live with it I suppose. But yeah. That's just my experience. I will be around to answer random questions if you have any for a while, but after that I'd like to leave this place behind forever. No offense, but I'd really like to never have to come back and just move on from this (having learned something, of course).[/QUOTe

The first time I had T in 2015 it was ringing, sizzling, vibrating in the brain noise 24/7. I HIGHLY recommend anyone with any from of T get on an anti depressant. Once I did that I went from total despair to coping. It lasted for 3 horrible months in 2015. 2.5 months in 2016. 10 days just recently. My cause: Liver function issues, emotional trauma/stress, and the first time - a severe neck strain. So happy for you . Wishing you continued, blissful silence.

 

[Champ]

Yes, I did. I do now and I did during my first episode. However, I also had these before my first episode when I didn't have any Tinnitus yet. I personally don't think fleeting Tinnitus or the frequency of occurence is any good indicator of anything. It appears to happen in both "healthy" patients as in Tinnitus patients.

I got fleeting tinnitus my whole life before I got my tinnitus at 25.

 

[Bill Bauer]

for noise induced T, age plays huge role

the military conscripts are very young with solid ears, they can recover fast or suffer little damage to start with, and I know that because I was once a military conscript myself over 25 years ago and we did lots of noisy rifle, machine guns and grenade blasts with minimal ear protection and no one ever suffered at all

now if you are a much older person, with decades of loud music and general noise exposure under the belt, and a somehow weakened inner ear, that's going to evolve into a whole different and very sad story...

Perhaps you are right. However, what about those survivors of a terrorist bomb (most of whom suffered damage to their ear drums)? It is unlikely that most of them were young, yet most of them had recovered from tinnitus...

 

[Bill Bauer]

@Vinnitus and @jjflyman either hissing or a "better" day. @Vinnitus . .

I am surprised that you refer to your non-hissing days as "better" days. I find the hissing sound to be a little easier to ignore (compared to the high-pitch sound). So, to me, "hissing" = "a better day"...

 

[Rick Brewer]

@Bill Bauer
Hey Bill, I wake up to near silence every morning with a faint hint of what the day will bring. Hissing starts out very low impact in the morning but morphs into a more reactive hiss by the end of the day. On non-hissing days, I hear only a faint high frequency tone in my head along with a faint intermittent wavering high frequency in my left ear that increases in volume around louder background noise. I much more prefer the non-hissing days.

 

[Bobby B]

Perhaps you are right. However, what about those survivors of a terrorist bomb (most of whom suffered damage to their ear drums)? It is unlikely that most of them were young, yet most of them had recovered from tinnitus...

Perhaps the group "most" are the young ones and the rest not

 

[Bill Bauer]

Perhaps the group "most" are the young ones and the rest not

Since 25 out of 26 had recovered, many of those 25 people had to be over 35...

"In that study, the patients underwent initial examination from the first day up to 10 months after the explosion, so the frequency of acute effects is not known. Pahor found the most frequent otologic symptoms in 111 hospitalized bombing victims to be deafness, high-pitched tinnitus, TM perforations, and earache. Otologic problems were found in less than one-third of the patients. Deafness was reported in 27 cases, and tinnitus in 26 cases. Twenty patients had perforated TMs. Hearing loss was mostly in the high-tones. In that study, all but one tinnitus case resolved spontaneously under follow-up (Pahor, 1981)."

 

[Bill Bauer]

@Bill Bauer
Hey Bill, I wake up to near silence every morning with a faint hint of what the day will bring. Hissing starts out very low impact in the morning but morphs into a more reactive hiss by the end of the day. On non-hissing days, I hear only a faint high frequency tone in my head along with a faint intermittent wavering high frequency in my left ear that increases in volume around louder background noise. I much more prefer the non-hissing days.

It sounds like for you, hissing is at a higher volume than the high frequency tone. For me, when the volume is the same, hissing is not as annoying/noticeable as the high frequency tone...

In any case, all of us ought to be thankful for the "good days", whatever they are...

 

[Flamingo]

He had it for 6 or 7 years until it finally abated.

This is very hopeful. Can you please tell us more about this? How old was your dad, How severe was the T? Thank you in advance!

 

[JimChicago]

Rick
My first exposure 12 years ago was from a riding lawn mower that had a bad muffler.

Do you still use a riding lawn mower? I downloaded an app which says mine at ear level is 87 dB. I realize that the apps/phones have percision problems, but am hoping that 87 dB is directionally correct.

If you are still using a riding lawn mower, what is your dB when cutting grass?

 

[Rick Brewer]

@Bobby B and @Flamingo
I'll see if I can't find out more details the next time I speak with my father. I do know that he was around 16 when he got tinnitus from an exploding cherry bomb. He remembers it took 6 or 7 years for it to totally fade. He did say that T comes back maybe once a year for a few minutes during louder activities but totally fades again. He's 75 now and he didn't seem to have any emotion to T while we were discussing it in our last phone conversation. After he told me his T briefly makes appearances on rare occasions, I told him to be careful. He responded quite unemotionally as if he didn't care.

 

[Bobby B]

Ok 16 that's young enough to recover or not suffer much damage
Thanks for the update

 

[Flamingo]

@Rick Brewer, thanks! 16 is indeed very young. I'm glad that it finally went away for him!

 

[Applejuice]

Great story, thanks for sharing. I'm 2 weeks short of being 2 months in. I have the same mindset, sometimes I think I notice positive changes and the other time I think it's not decreasing at all.

Posts like these do me good!

 

[Rick Brewer]

Hello @Applejuice
I'll be 11 weeks in tomorrow. I picked up T after using a loud impact driver in a confined area (trunk of a car). I've had many of those days too where I thought my T was almost gone, then BAM! ...Another loud day of hissing starts. My T also used to react to ordinary sounds like the TV, driving my truck (I have a diesel), and even walking outside to get the mail at my office. Now, only the shower amps up my sound(s) along with a few other louder continuous sounds. I also used to have this weird dull throbbing discomfort in my right ear but that has abated. For me, much of this progress happened between the 6th week and now. From reading your post, it sounds like your T cycles like mine - moving from days with hissing to lower days that may include lower volume hissing and/or a faint high frequency tone. Other people who have completely healed from noise-induced T on this TT forum have described their T to be similar to mine. The positive changes you're noticing is a step in the right direction, even if it goes back to being loud the next day. Another positive sign is when your T continues to change locations moving from your head to your ear(s) and so forth. You've probably read @jjflyman if you've been surfing the "Success Stories". He's on his 2nd bout with T and mentioned noise-induced T takes a long time to heal (6 to 18 months). For @heartohelp , his noise-induced T took over a year and was down to very faint hissing before his T completely faded. So hang in there Applejuice. I believe it's a good sign if your T is constantly changing and you're having better days at this point.

 

[Applejuice]

@Rick Brewer

Thanks for your message. My T never goes really quiet so that worries me. But if I think back to the first day then I remember the sound being much richer, deeper. It is now in higher frequencies, at least that's what I think. Still roughly the same volume though, intrusive during the day.

My T cycles in the same day. Sometimes hissing in the middle with a ring that goes from left to right, sometimes a whistle that is compressed in a hiss (sort of hybrid), sometimes it's a clear whistle, then it is in extra high frequencies like a dentist drill that removes plaque and my spiked one, the worst is a really off putting screech mostly in my left ear. The screeching one was actually going down in volume until last night but the T has been a bit better since this afternoon.

So I don't have much difference in the type of sound between days but rather during the day. Is that a bad sign? Haven't really had better days but I do sometimes have better moments until a moment arises which sounds like it was in the beginning. Really off putting.

I do however have some sounds that go from left to right or sometimes a whistle only is on one side and the other side is hissing.

I think my problem also is that I'm checking every few hours each day. It feels like I'm looking in the mirror everyday trying to see if I got any older.

 

[Rick Brewer]

@Applejuice
You've only had your T for maybe a month and a half, right? I remember my hissing also changed to more of a higher frequency at right around 6 weeks into T. The fact that your T is changing so frequently, I believe is a good sign. T that constantly changes would have a hard time becoming chronic in my opinion. Regarding your T never becoming quiet, mine doesn't either for the most part. Every morning, I wake up to almost silence with a twinkle of something in 1 of my ears, then it grows into a hiss or a faint tone for the rest of the day. I recently had a conversation with someone who had noise-induced T and H for over a year. His symptoms were alternating high frequency hissing and/or faint tone in head or ears. He said it took up to a year before he was experiencing days with silence alternating with lower volume hissing. In his case, the tones abated before the hissing, then the hissing lowered over the next couple of months to silence as it alternated with silence. Everybody is unique in their bout with T and timing on healing. I'm also hoping for a complete recovery (as we all are!). Do you have other ear issues such as any pain or accelerated or amplified hearing? Is there any other issue besides all the unwanted noise? Also, does your "screeching" maintain the same frequency or does it vary similar to a mosquito flying around your ear?

 

[90's Kid]

@Bobby B and @Flamingo
I'll see if I can't find out more details the next time I speak with my father. I do know that he was around 16 when he got tinnitus from an exploding cherry bomb. He remembers it took 6 or 7 years for it to totally fade. He did say that T comes back maybe once a year for a few minutes during louder activities but totally fades again. He's 75 now and he didn't seem to have any emotion to T while we were discussing it in our last phone conversation. After he told me his T briefly makes appearances on rare occasions, I told him to be careful. He responded quite unemotionally as if he didn't care.

My T appeared when I was 16 (two years ago) after noise exposure (cinema + stress and tired).
It took 2 months to fade away. BUT 1 year after I went on the internet and found something about tinnitus and it was like all did reappear like it was before

When I read that your father did wait 7 years to recovery it's really hopeful and I'm sure I'll beat it again

By the way, nowadays 7 years represents an incredible scientific improvement compared to decades ago.
Moreoever 7 years now is probably more than we need to wait before a treatment

 

[Bill Bauer]

BUT 1 year after I went on the internet and found something about tinnitus and it was like all did reappear like it was before

Are you saying that your tinnitus came back on the day when you were reminded of tinnitus? How loud is it now?

 

[Flamingo]

@jjflyman, I'm curious. How old were you when you got T the first time? Would you describe your T as mild, moderate or severe when you first got it?

 

[Applejuice]

@Rick Brewer

Thanks for you detailed reply! Yes I have it for roughly 7 weeks now or 1 1/2 month.

I had earpain in the first week. Not in both ears though and it subsided. I also have H but I'm noticing progress aswell since last week. My dog's bark hurted even from a distance but a few days ago he barked while I wasn't paying attention and I felt no pain or discomfort. So I decided to let in more normal sounds but I keep tv volume low, no headphones and I stay away from the dryer for example. Coincidally showering is the only thing that makes my T louder for certain. But I don't have any other issue tho.

My spike, the left ear screech often appears at the end of the day and it does fluctuate like a real screech does. There's no rhythm in it but it goes up and down like a rollercoaster even though the sound stays loud overall. Like a mosquito but faster.

But almost every sound I hear constantly changes like the sound of a mosqito does.

 

[jjflyman]

@jjflyman, I'm curious. How old were you when you got T the first time? Would you describe your T as mild, moderate or severe when you first got it?

First time with T I was around 44. I would say it was very severe. It went faded completely away in around 18 months.

 

[Flamingo]

First time with T I was around 44. I would say it was very severe. It went faded completely away in around 18 months.

Very hopeful! I'm young myself, but this sure proves that noise induced T can go away even if you're over 40! Everyone should have hope, age doesn't matter!

Best wishes - I hope your T goes away soon!