Why Do Some People's Tinnitus Go Away? And Several Other Questions...

[Ilija]

I've had a lot of friends who have had Tinnitus for a few days due to them being at loud concerts what I'm wondering is, how come theirs goes away in a couple of days while mine is taking its sweet time.
Also got a friend who had noise induced Tinnitus for 2 months.
His Tinnitus was practically a duplicate of mine:

First ringing then air sounds
Sensitive to noises that sound like his Tinnitus
Worse when stressed

While I understand no 2 people are the same this gives me some hope that the Tinnitus may go away, I'm afraid too much hanging around sites like these (extremely helpful, but everyone here has permanent Tinnitus) has given me the idea that Tinnitus never goes away when in fact loads of people had theirs go away in a day a week a month 2 months 3 months even after a year.

But that's not the point, how come theirs goes away? to be more specific what exactly happens when theirs goes away, does the brain just learn to ignore it? or do the cells calm down after a while and stop producing Tinnitus?
I'm also wondering if it's possible to have a temporary threshold shift for months?
Also what does auditory fatigue mean?
I have seen 2 ENT's and both have said that I have sustained acoustic trauma and now have auditory fatigue, and that it should probably go away with time when my ears settle.
1 more promise this is the last one, how come when I shut my ears I hear a ring but when my ears aren't shut I hear air, but then if I go to a completely quiet room I get a ring in the left ear and a turbine sound in the right (this is probably due to me having a cold) it's rather new started 2 days ago along with the cold.

 

[billie48]

I don't know if people's T are truly gone. Perhaps some. But a lot of them just habituated to T to the point that if they don't focus on the subject of T, the brain just fades it out of consciousness, like any normal harmless sounds we hear. Say if you live or work in an environment with a noise or sound constantly, and if you don't painfully object to such sound, after a while, the brain just can't hear this sound unless someone talks about it. Then your focus is on the sound and you hear it. Take the refrigerator or PC exhaust fan, or the air pump on your aquarium, or some lights with humming sound above, these are examples of sounds we routinely fade out from consciousness.

Of course, extremely loud and high pitch or pulsatile T may be a different story. These may take a much longer time and some discipline to ignore than a normal harmless sound. Don't take me wrong. I have ultra high pitch dog whistle T that blasts and screams most mornings to remind me it is there. It is not going away but most of the time during the day I don't hear it when I am occupied. The brain fades it out of consciousness even for a loud sound when it doesn't consider the sound a threat. How so? Remember those flights we took before T, with all the loud jet noise in the plane. When you are deep in watching a movie or reading a book (distractions I guess), then did you remember hearing the loud jet noise all around you? No. I didn't, and probably same for most people. But just imagine suddenly the pilot announce the plane needs to head back due to some issue (actually happened to me once after departing from Phoenix for 30 minutes many years ago), then all your senses and attention will be zoom into the jet engines, trying to make sure it keeps going strong and not choking (LOL). This is the same how our brain works on the ringing sound of T. That is why I focus on positivity, living my life as enjoyable and meaningful as can be to minimize the threat of T. When T is treated not a threat by the brain, it can fade it out much easier. But it may take time to get to such a stage. So be patient. Get a treatment which can help you, and most of all, give it TIME.

 

[AntonR]

I've had a lot of friends who have had Tinnitus for a few days due to them being at loud concerts what I'm wondering is, how come theirs goes away in a couple of days while mine is taking its sweet time.
Also got a friend who had noise induced Tinnitus for 2 months.
His Tinnitus was practically a duplicate of mine:

First ringing then air sounds
Sensitive to noises that sound like his Tinnitus
Worse when stressed

While I understand no 2 people are the same this gives me some hope that the Tinnitus may go away, I'm afraid too much hanging around sites like these (extremely helpful, but everyone here has permanent Tinnitus) has given me the idea that Tinnitus never goes away when in fact loads of people had theirs go away in a day a week a month 2 months 3 months even after a year.

But that's not the point, how come theirs goes away? to be more specific what exactly happens when theirs goes away, does the brain just learn to ignore it? or do the cells calm down after a while and stop producing Tinnitus?
I'm also wondering if it's possible to have a temporary threshold shift for months?
Also what does auditory fatigue mean?
I have seen 2 ENT's and both have said that I have sustained acoustic trauma and now have auditory fatigue, and that it should probably go away with time when my ears settle.
1 more promise this is the last one, how come when I shut my ears I hear a ring but when my ears aren't shut I hear air, but then if I go to a completely quiet room I get a ring in the left ear and a turbine sound in the right (this is probably due to me having a cold) it's rather new started 2 days ago along with the cold.

You'll be fine man.. its only been a month and yours is already down to the point where you can only hear it in a silent room. Just do your best to stop stressing. Hang out with friends, play league of legends, watch a movie with your family, just stop thinking about the T and it'll fade. And at the rate that yours is going down at I wouldn't be surprised if it goes away completely.

 

[Marius T]

Hi there i'm a bit like ilija, my tinnitus isn't loud and is noise induced. Gonna see my ent doc on the 30 and I'm considering taking part of the AM101 trials. Hope it's going to fade away !

 

[Ilija]

Been a while since I posted.
Been going around answering threads and stuff.
I'm still at a loss at what this is and how to deal with it.
I have posted this before but I did so in quite a panicked and angry manor so I'll give it my best to post calmly and smart.
So what I do know is the following my Tinnitus is getting better on its own which is great and I'm happy for that.
When I hear certain noises they tend to be more intense than they were before Tinnitus.
TV static seems louder and after a while makes my ears ring, but if I turn the TV off it stops the ringing immediately.
The sound my PC produces first made my left ear ring only but if I listen to it it makes the right one ring too.
If I hear a ring in the world that sounds even a little bit like my Tinnitus did it distresses me plus it I don't know if it's louder or it just seems that way because it bothers me.
When I got Tinnitus I was so stressed, I mean 24/7 stomach hurting, sweating, not eating, generally being stressed and depressed at the same time, I think that amount of stress might have caused what I am experiencing now.
I don't know if it's possible I have selective hyperacusis or something.
I hear all these sounds I couldn't used to.
For instance when I shut my PC of I hear this squealing noise coming from it.
I read somewhere about someone being sensitive to electromagnetic things?
That's pretty much it, the Tinnitus is fine and getting lower as time goes but I am at a tear about what this is.
I'm supposed to go get some tests done for my neck gland being slow, I'll see if I can't get an appointment with an audiologist since my uncle knows a lot of doctors.
Anyone know what is is.
Stress? Hyperacusis? Misophonia? Phonophobia? Reactive Tinnitus? or is it just my brain being still traumatized from those frequencies?
Again I was so stressed and scared it was unbearable.
If you have any ideas please post, Thank You.

 

[Karen]

Hi, Ilija,

I'm not an expert on hyperacusis, but it doesn't sound like you have that, to me. It sounds more like you have increased sensitivity, plus reactive tinnitus. Like you, my tinnitus reacts to certain sounds, and as soon as I remove the sound, it settles down. With hyperacusis, I think the noise sensitivity is there ALL the time.

Does anyone else have an opinion about this?

 

[Ilija]

Hi, Ilija,

I'm not an expert on hyperacusis, but it doesn't sound like you have that, to me. It sounds more like you have increased sensitivity, plus reactive tinnitus. Like you, my tinnitus reacts to certain sounds, and as soon as I remove the sound, it settles down. With hyperacusis, I think the noise sensitivity is there ALL the time.

Does anyone else have an opinion about this?

But why would it develop later?
I didn't have it with the Tinnitus it came after 3-4 days, could the stress have caused it?
Also it takes time for me to start hearing a ring.
I need to hear a frequency for a while until it starts bugging me.

 

[Karen]

Yes, it's possible that stress caused it, but it's also possible that it is just another manifestation of tinnitus, which may change quite a bit. Some days tinnitus is worse than other days, and our sensitivity may be heightened. Your tinnitus is in the early stages right now, and may have just changed, or developed a new symptom.

There are several threads on Tinnitus Talk about reactive tinnitus. Here's one of them:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-or-reactive-tinnitus.5558/

At any rate, I'm glad you're doing better now, and it's good that you are planning to get some more testing done. An audiogram (hearing test) is a good idea. You might have some hearing loss that you're unaware of, that may be causing it.

 

[Ilija]

Yes, it's possible that stress caused it, but it's also possible that it is just another manifestation of tinnitus, which may change quite a bit. Some days tinnitus is worse than other days, and our sensitivity may be heightened. Your tinnitus is in the early stages right now, and may have just changed, or developed a new symptom.

There are several threads on Tinnitus Talk about reactive tinnitus. Here's one of them:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-or-reactive-tinnitus.5558/

At any rate, I'm glad you're doing better now, and it's good that you are planning to get some more testing done. An audiogram (hearing test) is a good idea. You might have some hearing loss that you're unaware of, that may be causing it.

Makes sense, although it hasn't been unpredictable.
It's basically the same deal every day.
Some static noises and such are louder than they used to be.
Tinnitus same.
Then about a week passes and the reactive thing stays, but the Tinnitus gets lower.
If it gets higher it's usually because I'm tired or I heard a loud noise or it's a cold and my sinuses are clogged, the tired thing I solve by sleeping, the loud noise thing stops after a few hours to a day and my cold is gone.
Right now it seems my Tinnitus is the lowest it's been, even lower than yesterdays air sounds.
The only thing that bothers me is that my ears seem to be...I just realised what it could be, the lymbic system and the fight/fright/flight thing are emotion/stress controlled.
What if by worrying so much and listening to everything around me like I was in a dark forest I just psyched myself out and so my ears are now attuned and pick up frequencies that sound like Tinnitus on a higher level?
It would explain why it takes me a while to actually hear the ringing, why my actual Tinnitus never actually gets worse, and why the sounds that did bother me went away, like clanking dishes, glass on glass and such things.
Think it could be that my ears are just on alert from all that stress and fear?
Also even if it's not is there a chance of this going away with time just like my hyperacusis did?

 

[2131e]

Hi Ilija, I've been worrying about all this stuff too, I've had T and hyperacusis since about August too. It seems to me that many people on here learn to 'deal' with their tinnitus psychologically and this really does affect their perception of noises (phantom or otherwise). So, it seems possible that some of what you are hearing, its intensity or whatever, or your emotional reaction to it, or both, might indeed be altered if you weren't stressed and scared. But that theory is harder to test cos to become less stressed and scared takes slow gradual work, with meditation or TRT or whatever works for you. I'm trying to learn more about T and other people's experiences but also am trying to practice meditating with this - I know meditation is great for chronic pain sufferers and maybe this is similar. I find it F-ing horrible to sit and let the T sound be there, but i put on quiet white noise and just try to 'breathe' into both the fear of the T and the weird T noises themselves. i hope if i do that enough my amygdala will stop putting me straight into fight/flight as soon as i hear the sound. I hope that eventually even if our ears keep doing crazy s---, at least we can learn not to freak out about it with enough time, like some on here seem to have achieved. Anyway, i really hope yours goes away with more time