Tinnitus — Does the Cause Make a Difference to Recovery?

[RichardG]

Hi,

anyone can help me here...

does the cause (if known) make a difference to speed of recovery/process of habituation? (or is it a case of once the damage has been done - the damage is done?). I am fairly certain my tinnitus - which started in May - was caused by severe stress coupled with wax build-up (has since been removed). I tend to only hear it if I listen out for it in a quiet room/space, so mainly in the evenings or sometimes when I wake-up in the middle of the night.

 

[Pumpkin]

I have no medical background at all so this is purely opinion but I think it's more to do with the extent of damage done as opposed to the cause. Unfortunately that seems like a difficult thing to assess!

 

[Cheza]

I tend to only hear it if I listen out for it in a quiet room/space, so mainly in the evenings or sometimes when I wake-up in the middle of the night.

Stop listening for it! When you do that, you're telling your brain that this sound is important to your safety. That will only cause the tinnitus to continue and possibly become louder.

You're very lucky to only hear it when it's quiet and occasionally when you awaken during the night. If it was in fact caused by stress and wax buildup, I would say you have a very good chance of it fading away, if you stop monitoring it. Protect your ears from loud noises, learn to meditate to reduce stress, and keep your ears clean. Just go about your life as if you didn't have tinnitus, and your brain will eventually respond as if the phantom sound is not important to your survival. The tinnitus will eventually fade away from your consciousness.