You just can’t get away from that ringing in your ears. It’s been over two days and you can still hear that nagging ringing in your ears. You’re aware that the buzzing is tinnitus but your beginning to worry about how long it will last.
Tinnitus can be brought about by damage to the stereocilia in your ears (they’re the small hairs that pick up air vibrations which your brain then converts into intelligible sound). That damage is typically the result of overly loud sound. That’s why you observe tinnitus most commonly after, as an example, attending a concert, spending time in a noisy restaurant, or being seated next to a deafening jet engine while you’re taking a trip.
Under Normal Scenarios, How Long Does Tinnitus Persist?
There isn’t any cure for tinnitus. But that doesn’t mean it’ll never go away. How long your tinnitus persists will depend on a large number of factors, such as your general health and the root cause of your tinnitus.
But if you just returned home from a noisy day of traveling and you find your ears ringing, you can typically expect your tinnitus to fade away in a day or two. 16 to 48 hours typically is how long tinnitus will last. But it’s also not abnormal for symptoms to linger, sometimes for as much as a couple of weeks. And tinnitus will come back if you are exposed to loud sound again.
It’s typically suggested that you see a specialist if your tinnitus continues and particularly if your tinnitus is detracting from your quality of life.
What Leads to Lasting Tinnitus?
Normally, tinnitus is short-lived. But sometimes it can be long-lasting. When the root cause is not mundane that’s particularly true either in terms of origin or in terms of seriousness. Some illustrations are as follows:
- Traumatic Brain Trauma (TBI): Much of the processing of sound happens in the brain. When those processors start to misfire, because of traumatic brain trauma, tinnitus can be the outcome.
- Hearing loss: Tinnitus and hearing loss frequently go hand in hand. So, whatever the cause of your hearing loss is, you could also wind up developing (or noticing) irreversible tinnitus alongside it.
- Repeated exposure: After one rock concert, your ears will probably ring for a couple of days but frequent subjection will result in far worse consequences. Repeated exposure to loud sounds can lead to permanent hearing damage, tinnitus included.
Permanent tinnitus is considerably 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 go Away?
You will need to get relief as soon as possible regardless of whether your tinnitus is permanent or temporary. Although there’s no cure for tinnitus, there are certain things you can do to decrease symptoms (however long they might endure):
- Find a way to cover up the sound: Sometimes, utilizing a white noise machine (like a humidifier or fan) can help you drown out the sound of tinnitus and, thus, ignore the symptoms (and, you know, get a restful night’s sleep in the process).
- Avoid loud noises. Going to another concert, jumping on another plane, or cranking up the volume on your earpods another notch might prolong your symptoms or increase their severity.
- Try to remain calm: perhaps it sounds somewhat… abstract, but higher blood pressure can trigger tinnitus flare ups so remaining calm can help keep your tinnitus at bay.
- Wear earplugs (or earmuffs): The next option, if you can’t keep away from loud situations, is to use hearing protection. (And, really, you should be protecting your hearing even if you don’t have tinnitus.)
Unfortunately, none of these practices will cure permanent tinnitus. But it can be equally significant to control and reduce your symptoms.
How Long Before Your Tinnitus Goes Away?
In the majority of cases, though, your tinnitus will subside without you having to do anything about it. Your hearing should go back to normal within 16 to 48 hours. However, you will want to look for a solution if your tinnitus lingers. Discovering a workable treatment is the best way to finally get some relief. If you think you have hearing loss (which is commonly associated with tinnitus) you should have your hearing examined.