Studies Confirm Tinnitus Improves Over Time

[Ricardo1991]

It does. Here I am, 6 months in. I shed my last tear for Tinnitus back in March. I've had a few moments of self pity and raged out once (and last time ever) but honestly; it's just there and doesn't bother me as much.
I hope everyone can get here.
Ricardo

 

[Ian Mac]

This study shows people get used to their tinnitus over time. The noise pitch and intensity do not change.

 

[Beste]

This study shows people get used to their tinnitus over time. The noise pitch and intensity do not change.

I agree. This study is for the ones who do not have fluctuating tinnitus. For the God's sake who can habituate to head buzzing T?

 

[Ian Mac]

Nobody my friend not even the best, because I tried for a year. I just bought a hearing aid with the hearing aid part turned off and the masker tuned specifically to me and turned up, now I mostly just hear crickets at the ocean. Best thing I ever bought. I have T from nerve damage sounds like three birds fighting over a morse cord machine, fluctuating in the higher levels. I also had tinnitus from loud noises but that was nothing compared to this.

 

[Ricardo1991]

I agree. This study is for the ones who do not have fluctuating tinnitus. For the God's sake who can habituate to head buzzing T?

I think I have. But I am not even sure what kind of tinnitus I have. Some days, I can actually hear a ringing; some days it's static, some days it's buzzing.

 

[Ian Mac]

No birds fighting snakes in a plane? With a morse code machine in my right ear beep meeeee weee te te teeee beep beep tee bee meee bee beeeeee fluctuations at the higher end making me feel like Grim Reapin gone off the deep end

 

[John G]

I have given my T long enough time to improve. No improvement... yet haha

 

[skoupidis]

T is most likelly different for every person.
It does get better for some, it may fade away for others. It gets worst for the unfortunate ones.
But, combined with H, it is UNBERABLE. And it is almost impossible to get used to. That much is certain. But time CAN change that...

In my opinion, habituation is a combination of brain habit and a real decrease in T loudness, hyperacusis and other problems like sound tolerance or sound distorion.

I for one am a beleiver of this research, time can defenitely act positively for tinnitus.

In my mind, there are also some other important factors:

- Good sleep most of the time is very important.
- Avoid further damaging of your ears with harmful loud sounds.
- A lack of vitamins may be a factor, so you have to find the correct ones to take. For example a lack of vitamin E may cause certain issues.
- There is a possibility that in the long term there are supplements that may help. Like ginkgo for example. There have been reported several improvement cases. This is by no means certain, but it is preferable to try than chemical drugs.

Generally you have to help your organism heal the best it can. Not hinder it.

The most important thing to remember in any case is that this takes a lot of time. It may take years. But the result may be satisfactory or even a total cure! It has happened. It may happen to you. You have to be patient and forget the real BS like the six month deadline and drugs that do absolutely nothing.

Just my opinion...

 

[Ian Mac]

If it's bad you know it, when it's lob-sided with higher pitches on the left and lower pitches on the right with twittering fluctuations of hearing on the right side and another high noise in the right ear that comes and goes fast, every half second. You say f*** this is not gunna habituate too nice. When you can hear your fluctuations over the noise of your car on the highway even with the windows down, when you truely fear being trapped in a quiet space and bedtime requires many fans. I personally cant habituate to fluctuating changing volume and pitch then coming back and forth, but from experience if the Tinnitus is constant pitch and volume than its possible to habituate and stop hearing it by pushing it into the background and chalking it up to brain noise, one might even post claiming their Tinnitus "Stopped ringing and went away".

 

[skoupidis]

If it's bad you know it, when it's lob-sided with higher pitches on the left and lower pitches on the right with twittering fluctuations of hearing on the right side and another high noise in the right ear that comes and goes fast, every half second. You say f*** this is not gunna habituate too nice. When you can hear your fluctuations over the noise of your car on the highway even with the windows down, when you truely fear being trapped in a quiet space and bedtime requires many fans. I personally cant habituate to fluctuating changing volume and pitch then coming back and forth, but from experience if the Tinnitus is constant pitch and volume than its possible to habituate and stop hearing it by pushing it into the background and chalking it up to brain noise, one might even post claiming their Tinnitus "Stopped ringing and went away".

On the possitive side, many claim that fluctuating tinnitus is more likely to decreese over time.

 

[Ian Mac]

Well that makes sense,and I would love to experience it getting less

It's a misleading title "studies show tinnitus improves over time" vs the full title which has one word added shown below in CAPS LOCK which dramatically changes the meaning of the title, the full title is "Studies show tinnitus IMPACT improves over time." Yes that is a big change from" tinnitus improves " to "tinnitus IMPACT improves." That means the perception of the tinnitus decreases but not the tinnitus.

 

[Penate]

This is unbelievable how people still saying that BS .inproves when the damage is not bad,I have so severe never going down T/H .

 

[Marlino]

I for myself don't know what to expect and I hate to get confused by studies like this. Up to now it doesn't seem to get constantly better for me.
I've experienced that small difference in T volume can make a huge difference in perception. Like volume 30% up and down make it either unbearable or no issue at all.
I would love this study to be realistic, although I think its very dangerous to wait for T to get better. I for myself try to stay patient, expecting it to take years...

 

[dan]

Guys, I am one of those who has just habituated with T after an increase due to acoustic trauma in March. The first month I was just like all of you are. Just go to the Back to silence thread and try it. It will not take away your T. You will still hear it. But it will not bother you anymore. It is a fact that it is all about how you respond to it. I had nights when I would just dive into the sound and could not sleep at all. Now I sleep as I used to, even though my ears, yes, are screaming, it is not lower than yours. I come here from time to time to check the news. Have faith.

it is.

 

[adrian_em]

@adrian_em thank you very much!!! i hate the recent trend that people get bashed for saying that they habitauted quickly or immediately or whatever. We all know that the reaction to the sounds plays the main role!!!
Adrian may I ask hiw old you are and if you now take restrictions in ur life due to T?

I am almost 31. In 2012 when I woke up in a morning after a night in the club I realized that my ears were ringing. When I found out from the internet what I had I panicked. I had a time with bad sleeping until I discovered that I could sleep. From that point I started to ignore it. Soon I discovered that I had hear loss in both ears until 40-50 db on the 4000 khz range. This was no doubt a consequence of many ears of shooting without protection since I work in the military. The only measured I took was to avoid loud noises. My habituation was so high that last year I started to go to weddings. In march however a truck blew its horn near my ear. It took me a week to realise that it was higher and then I panicked and it started. I was really, really bad. Now I wear Alpine Music Pro with the gold filter every time I am outside the house. When I ride my bicycle I wear foam plugs. I even wear my Alpine plugs even when I drive. I habituated with this new situation and with the noise to the point that in the last weeks I started to forget about it. Even though I did not forget to wear the plugs every time I went outside. Not to mention the sleep, now I can sleep as I used to, me who in march and april I would dive into the sound. Today I was for a few moments near a road with traffic without the Alpine plugs and it startec to annoy me. That is why I came back to check what's going on here. The whole idea is that once you are out of the fight or flight mode you can live without thinking of it. It will be there, though, but not bothering you anymore.

 

[Penate]

This is BS. Nobody with 4 different sounds in the head and ears, very severe, can be improved or habituate, over nothing.

 

[ruben ruiz]

Ive habituated three times the T got worse after each time. Its like starting over each time. This is total BS.

 

[Ears Hurt]

@ruben ruiz AGREED! Tinnitus does not get better with time, its a load of well you know to try to make us suffers feel better. It just gets worse over time. As we age our hearing gets worse, so does our little permanent foe. We are forced to handle this form of mental torture any way we can to still salvage our lives. We learn to deal with the pollution of noise in our ears and head 24/7, but in no way does it get better. Rarely doctors understand it. No cure is available. Treatment is primative.

 

[IreneO]

I do wish there was more recognition of the distinction between tinnitus and the ability to cope with tinnitus. I would certainly have expected a more accurate use of terminology from a scientific peer-reviewed paper. A year on from my T onset, I know I am facing into years of spikes, rehabituation and gradual worsening of the condition as my hearing becomes worse. "Improvement over time"? Give me a break.

 

[Sandie]

Never give up on exploring what will work. Everyone is different and their experience is different. There is research on going for treatment and possible cure. Emphasis on treatment. Check out this web site for a treatment that is now being offered in CA and soon to be in other centers. It may be an answer for some. www.desyncra.com. Neumonics, masking, etc. is another area of treatment that is very promising and works for some people. Depending on the cause of the T some of the "remedies" may be help some and not others. Just because something does not work for you may not be the case for another, so I hesitate to label everything snake oil or scam. I do poo poo any supplement that claims that guarantee a cure. Some drug treatments do work - not for everyone. Some supplements do work, not for everyone. Surgery works for some - not everyone. Keep looking. Do not give up.

 

[Ears Hurt]

Neuomonics, masking, and other is exactly that...another attempt at treatment. Those are just treatments that don't really help much, but they change your perception of it. You still have tinnitus in your ears and head afterwards. Yes, some people are bothered by it a little less since treatment; however, you still have it along with the great chance it will worsen over time. Yes, it might not get worse or may even get a little better, but the chance is greater for it to progress.

 

[Vaba]

The psychological approach is indeed a very underrated phenomena.

Really? It seems like it's quite overrated. Every organization out there that "helps" tinnitus patients seems to advocate a psychological approach like TRT (which hasn't been proven to work and isn't backed by any kind of research, despite being allocated over $1,500,000 to use to test it's efficacy. Read this thread https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...training-therapy-where-are-the-results.13016/)

Many people, myself included, have ultra-sensitive, gentle psychological profiles that make us extremely attentive to their surroundings, enjoying the simple things, like silence and sunlight. This is why tinnitus and floaters have destroyed my life, I personally used to really enjoy just being in the moment - looking around, listening to the 0db rustle of grass, turning the soft page of a hardback, and just objectively enjoying pure sensory experiences without any interruptions. Now, being in the moment is agony - mindfulness of any kind doesn't work because of the sensory interference preventing people like me from "grounding" themselves.

I've tried various types of therapy to help me with T, but the end result is that the T signal continues to grow louder and my left ear continues to hurt. It's sucked out my soul and killed my personality - my reaction to it has not made it objectively or subjectively less oppressive.

I hate when people compare to other peoples disabilities.

Agreed. But at least Stephen Hawking has a large team of carers to help him through his life and he can think clearly and express his ideas without his thoughts being oppressed by screeching microphone feedback on full blast inside his head, not to say that I would trade this for ALS.

On the possitive side, many claim that fluctuating tinnitus is more likely to decreese over time.

I have almost the exact same kind of T he describes. Continuous and high pitched in the left, lower-pitched airy whistling at 2 or 3 different tones in the right. It's stayed the exact same for 2 years.

 

[grate_biff]

I agree with everything you say @Vaba. I can really relate.

 

[Ears Hurt]

I've tried various types of therapy to help me with T, but the end result is that the T signal continues to grow louder and my left ear continues to hurt. It's sucked out my soul and killed my personality - my reaction to it has not made it objectively or subjectively less oppressive.

I feel exactly the same way! Those so called treatments that help tinnitus really don't do a thing for the actual ringing. I want to experience life without this constant sound in my head, not learn to tolerate it.

 

[Eib]

i cant stand when people come on the board to to cry "BS" based on their sample of one. There is no point in shooting down positive news or other people's recovery posts. It does no-one any good including themselves

 

[lolkas]

I would like to leave few cents of mine, if you will.

Articles on Tinnitus which state that it gets better over time are not accurate nor correct. Tinnitus as condition of underlying damage to auditory system does not really get better for 90% of people. We as humans have different mental state and perception on anything in this world, however perception does not resolve the issue. Sure there are people that have very mild hissing that they hear it only if it is quiet and that is not that much of an issue for them then, but again in 90% cases tinnitus is not mild and it affects human being suffering from it greatly. I would say if person is not that mentally strong - mild tinnitus is going to be as debilitating as in severe cases.

Nevertheless, I do believe that all of us have to stop accepting world's opinion on this condition, because we as sufferers for the most part are our own enemies here. We do accept that it "gets better over time", do not raise awareness and push world on getting this sorted out since it is as dangerous as cancer to human.

We cannot live our lives in silence, that is it. It is exhausting and it still adds up to our health and mental state over time, which will cause more and more issues for us and people around us (relatives and etc).

I strongly believe that if understanding of consequences of having this issue would be elevated to level they should be at - cure for at least Tinnitus as symptom itself would be available already or at least be very close to be released. We unfortunately are not there yet.

 

[volsung37]

Very difficult to tell if T improves over time. Often people's reaction to the noises changes for the better even if the noises get worse. I haven't noticed any lessening in my T since February although certain noises have gone to be replaced by others.

 

[Karen Perry]

I don't really believe this because I have been having tinnitus for over 7 years and it has not improved. There are good days and bad days. But those good days don't last

 

[Andrea White]

It's almost a year since I developed T - I think the level of noise is about the same, sometimes it spikes. But what I have found is that when I am engaged in certain activities, I don't hear it at all, which is wonderful. What activities are these, I hear you ask - in no particular order they are -

1. Being with other people and concentrating on them, and forgetting about myself. I play Bridge with two different groups and also meet with other artists to work together on pictures for exhibitions.

2. When I am in new places where I am too busy looking at everything to think about Tinnitus

3. When I am driving

4. When I sing in the choir

I suppose this is habituation to some degree, but as it works so well, I look for any excuse to involve my mind in anything which I find interesting or pleasurable, good books, good films, plenty of fun with friends, and just being with people I like and focusing on them.

Of course the T is v. unpleasant in the mornings when I wake up and it is a struggle. The two things that help me a lot are my MP3 where I listen to Radio 4 as the quality of this talk channel is superb with masses of really interesting programmes to engage the mind. I have some high frequency hearing loss, (which is probably the cause of my T) . So, I have, courtesy of the good old NHS, some snazzy tiny hearing aids which gives me back those "tinny" sounds of life I seem to have lost - this almost completely masks my T and spookily it feels as though the sounds I am getting back are very much like the T sounds - except these sounds are now in the right place!

This is how I manage an otherwise frightening and debilitating condition and one which, at the onset made me utterly depressed and thinking very dark thoughts indeed. But life is much better now. I hope its helpful.

 

[Kekistan]

Really? It seems like it's quite overrated. Every organization out there that "helps" tinnitus patients seems to advocate a psychological approach like TRT (which hasn't been proven to work and isn't backed by any kind of research, despite being allocated over $1,500,000 to use to test it's efficacy. Read this thread https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...training-therapy-where-are-the-results.13016/)

Many people, myself included, have ultra-sensitive, gentle psychological profiles that make us extremely attentive to their surroundings, enjoying the simple things, like silence and sunlight. This is why tinnitus and floaters have destroyed my life, I personally used to really enjoy just being in the moment - looking around, listening to the 0db rustle of grass, turning the soft page of a hardback, and just objectively enjoying pure sensory experiences without any interruptions. Now, being in the moment is agony - mindfulness of any kind doesn't work because of the sensory interference preventing people like me from "grounding" themselves.

I've tried various types of therapy to help me with T, but the end result is that the T signal continues to grow louder and my left ear continues to hurt. It's sucked out my soul and killed my personality - my reaction to it has not made it objectively or subjectively less oppressive.


Agreed. But at least Stephen Hawking has a large team of carers to help him through his life and he can think clearly and express his ideas without his thoughts being oppressed by screeching microphone feedback on full blast inside his head, not to say that I would trade this for ALS.

I have almost the exact same kind of T he describes. Continuous and high pitched in the left, lower-pitched airy whistling at 2 or 3 different tones in the right. It's stayed the exact same for 2 years.

I feel excatly the same