When you first notice that ringing in your ears you might have a very common reaction: pretend that it’s no big deal. You go through your day the same as usual: you do your shopping, you make dinner, you attempt to have a discussion with your friends. All the while, you’re attempting to push that ringing in your ear out of your mind. Because there is one thing you feel sure of: your tinnitus will fade away on its own.
After a few more days of unremitting buzzing and ringing, however, you start to have doubts.
This situation happens to other people as well. At times tinnitus will go away on its own, and other times it will linger on and that’s why it’s a tricky little disorder.
When Tinnitus is Likely to Go Away by Itself
Around the world, almost everyone has had a bout of tinnitus because it’s extremely common. Tinnitus is a temporary condition, in most situations, and will eventually vanish on it’s own. The most common scenario is the rock concert: you go to your local arena to see your favorite band and you discover, when you get back home, that there is a ringing in your ears.
The type of tinnitus that is linked to temporary injury from loud noise will often subside within a few days (and you chalk it up to the price of seeing your favorite band play live).
Of course, it’s precisely this type of noise damage that, over time, can cause hearing loss to move from temporary (or acute, as they say) to chronic. Too many of those kinds of concerts and you may wind up with permanent tinnitus.
sometimes, Tinnitus Doesn’t Simply go Away
If your tinnitus continues for over three months it’s then identified as chronic tinnitus (but you should get it examined by an expert long before that).
Around 5-15% of people globally have recorded signs of chronic tinnitus. The exact causes of tinnitus are still not well known although there are some known connections (like loss of hearing).
When the triggers of your tinnitus aren’t clear, it usually means that a fast “cure” will be evasive. If your ears have been buzzing for more than three months and there’s no identifiable cause, there’s a strong chance that the sound will not subside by itself. But if this is your situation, you can protect your quality of life and control your symptoms with some treatment possibilities (such as noise canceling devices and cognitive behavioral therapy).
The Reason For Your Tinnitus is Important
It becomes much simpler to reduce the symptoms of tinnitus when you are able to identify the underlying causes. As an example, if your tinnitus is created by a stubborn, bacterial ear infection, treatment with an antibiotic will usually solve both issues, bringing about a healthy ear and crystal-clear hearing.
Some causes of acute tinnitus might consist of:
- Damage to the eardrum (such as a perforated eardrum)
- Meniere’s disease (this is often associated with chronic tinnitus, as Meniere’s has no cure)
- Loss of hearing (again, this is often associated with chronic tinnitus)
- A blockage in the ear or ear canal
- Chronic ear infections
So…Will The Buzzing in My Ears Subside?
Generally speaking, your tinnitus will recede on its own. But it becomes increasingly more likely that you’re experiencing chronic tinnitus the longer these tinnitus sounds remain.
You can convince yourself that everything is fine and hope that the buzzing will just stop. But there could come a point where your tinnitus starts to become uncomfortable, where it’s hard to focus because the sound is too distracting. In those situations, wishful thinking may not be the complete treatment plan you need.
In most situations, however, as a matter of fact, throughout most of your life, your tinnitus will normally go away on its own, a typical response to a loud environment (and your body’s method of telling you to avoid that environment from now on). Only time will tell if your tinnitus is chronic or acute.