You just can’t escape from that ringing in your ears. That high pitched buzz in your ear has been nagging you since yesterday morning and it still hasn’t disappeared. You’re aware that the ringing is tinnitus but your beginning to be concerned about how long it will last.
Tinnitus can be brought on by injury to the stereocilia in your ears (the air oscillations that your ears turn into sound, are sensed by these tiny hairs). Usually, too much excessively loud noise is the cause. That’s why you notice tinnitus most commonly after, as an example, attending 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?
There isn’t any cure for tinnitus. But that doesn’t mean it’ll never go away. How long your tinnitus lasts will depend on a wide variety of factors, like your general health and the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
But if you find your ears buzzing after a noisy day of traveling, a couple of days should be enough for you to observe your tinnitus fading away. 16 to 48 hours typically is how long tinnitus will persist. But it’s also not unusual for symptoms to stick around, sometimes for as long as a couple of weeks. And tinnitus will return if you are exposed to loud noise again.
If tinnitus continues and is affecting your quality of life, you need to see a specialist.
What Leads to Permanent Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is usually temporary. But that means it can be irreversible. Specifically when the cause of tinnitus is something outside the mundane When it comes to severity and origin. Some illustrations are as follows:
- Traumatic Brain Trauma (TBI): The majority of the processing of sound occurs in the brain. In some cases, a traumatic brain injury (such as a concussion) may lead to tinnitus because those processors begin to misfire.
- Hearing Impairment: Typically, tinnitus and hearing loss are joined at the hip. So, whatever the cause of your hearing loss is, you could also find yourself developing (or noticing) irreversible tinnitus alongside it.
- Repeated exposure: After one rock concert, your ears will probably ring for a couple of days but repeated subjection will result in far more serious consequences. Continued exposure to loud sounds can cause permanent hearing injury, including tinnitus.
Permanent tinnitus is significantly less common than its more short-term counterpart. But there are still millions of Americans each year who are treated for permanent, or chronic, tinnitus symptoms.
How do You Get Your Tinnitus to Subside?
You will want to find relief sooner rather than later regardless of whether your tinnitus is long term or temporary. Despite the fact that there’s no cure for tinnitus, there are a few things you can do to lessen symptoms (though they may last only so long):
- Wear earplugs (or earmuffs): The next option, if you can’t steer clear of loud environments, is to use hearing protection. (And, really, whether you have tinnitus or not, you need to wear hearing protection.)
- Find a way to mask the sound: You can in some cases drown out the sound and get a restful nights sleep by utilizing some source of white noise such as a humidifier or fan.
- Stay away from loud noises. Going to another live show, hopping on another plane, or turning up the volume on your earpods another notch might prolong your symptoms or double down on their severity.
- Try to remain calm: Maybe it sounds a little… abstract, but higher blood pressure can trigger tinnitus flare ups so keeping calm can help keep your tinnitus in check.
To be sure, if you have long lasting tinnitus, none of these strategies will cure your tinnitus. But reducing and managing your symptoms can be just as significant.
When Will Your Tinnitus go Away?
In the majority of scenarios, though, your tinnitus will subside without you having to do anything about it. Your hearing should return to normal within 16 to 48 hours. However, if your tinnitus lingers, you’ll want to seek out a solution. Discovering a workable treatment is the best way to finally get some relief. Get your hearing checked if you think you have hearing loss or tinnitus.