The ringing just won’t subside. That high pitched ringing in your ear has been bothering you ever since yesterday morning and it still hasn’t gone away. You’re aware that the ringing is tinnitus but your beginning to worry about how long it will last.
Tinnitus can be brought about by damage to the stereocilia inside your ears (they’re the very small hairs that pick up air vibrations that your brain then transforms into intelligible sound). That injury is most often the result of overly loud sound. That’s why you observe tinnitus most often after, for example, going to a concert, spending time in a loud restaurant, or sitting near a roaring jet engine while you’re traveling.
How Long Does Tinnitus Last on Average?
Tinnitus can’t be cured. But that doesn’t mean it won’t ever go away. How long your tinnitus lasts depends on a wide variety of factors, such as your general health and the root cause of your tinnitus.
But if you find your ears buzzing after a noisy day of traveling, you can normally expect your tinnitus to disappear in a day or two. On average, tinnitus will last 16 to 48 hours. But occasionally, symptoms can last as much as two weeks. Further exposure to loud noises could also cause tinnitus to flare up again, effectively resetting the clock.
It’s generally suggested that you consult a specialist if your tinnitus persists and especially if your tinnitus is impacting from your quality of life.
What Leads to Permanent Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is usually temporary. But in some cases it can be long-lasting. Especially when the cause of tinnitus is something out of the ordinary either in terms of origin or in terms of severity. Some examples are as follows:
- Repeated exposure: After one rock show, your ears will ring for a couple of days but repeated exposure will lead to far more serious consequences. Frequent exposure to loud noises can cause irreversible hearing damage, tinnitus included.
- Hearing loss: Tinnitus and hearing loss often go together. So, whatever the cause of your hearing loss is, you might also end up developing (or noticing) irreversible tinnitus along with it.
- Traumatic Brain Trauma (TBI): Much of the processing of sound happens in the brain. When those processors start to misfire, as a result of traumatic brain injury, tinnitus can be the result.
Temporary tinnitus is far more common than lasting tinnitus. But permanent or chronic tinnitus still impacts millions of Us citizens every year.
How Can You Get Your Tinnitus to go Away?
It doesn’t matter if your tinnitus is short term or long term, you may want to get relief as soon as possible. Despite the fact that there isn’t any cure for tinnitus, there are certain things you can do to lessen symptoms (however long they may endure):
- Use earplugs (or earmuffs): If you can’t steer clear of loud situations, then safeguarding your hearing is the next best step. (And, really, whether you suffer from tinnitus or not, you need to use hearing protection.)
- Avoid loud noises. Attending another live show, jumping on another airline, or turning up the volume on your earpods another notch may extend your symptoms or double down on their severity.
- Find a way to cover up the sound: You can sometimes mask the sound and get a restful nights sleep by utilizing some source of white noise such as a fan or humidifier.
- Try to keep calm: perhaps it sounds somewhat… abstract, but increased blood pressure can result in tinnitus episodes so staying calm can help keep your tinnitus in check.
To be sure, if you have long-term tinnitus, none of these techniques will cure your tinnitus. But decreasing and managing your symptoms can be equally important.
How Long Before Your Tinnitus Disappears?
In the majority of cases, though, your tinnitus will go away without you having to do anything about it. Your hearing should return to normal within 16 to 48 hours. Nevertheless, if your tinnitus persists, you’ll want to seek out a solution. Finding a workable treatment is the best way to finally get some relief. Get your hearing tested if you think you have hearing loss or tinnitus.
