You just can’t get away from that ringing in your ears. It’s been more than 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 continue.
Tinnitus can be brought on by injury to the stereocilia in your ears (they’re the tiny hairs that sense air vibrations that your brain then transforms into intelligible sound). That injury is typically the outcome of excessively loud sound. That’s why you observe tinnitus most commonly after, for example, attending a concert, eating at a noisy restaurant, or sitting next to a deafening jet engine while you’re taking a trip.
How Long Does Tinnitus Persist on Average?
Tinnitus can’t be cured. But that doesn’t mean it’ll never subside. There will be a large number of factors that will establish how long your tinnitus will stick around, such as the root cause of your tinnitus and your general hearing health.
But if you find your ears ringing after a noisy day of traveling, you can normally expect your tinnitus to go away in a day or two. 16 to 48 hours on average is how long tinnitus will last. But it’s also not abnormal for symptoms to linger, sometimes for as long as a couple of weeks. And tinnitus will return if you are exposed to loud noise again.
It’s typically recommended that you see a specialist if your tinnitus continues and especially if your tinnitus is detracting from your quality of life.
What Leads to Permanent Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is usually temporary. But in some cases it can be irreversible. When the cause is not mundane that’s especially true When it comes to degree and origin. Some illustrations are as follows:
- Repeated exposure: If your ears are buzzing after one rock concert, think of how they’ll feel after several rock concerts a week or if you’re a musician who plays live shows and practices all day. Repeated exposure to loud noises can cause permanent hearing damage, including tinnitus.
- Traumatic Brain Trauma (TBI): Most of the processing of sound occurs in the brain. In some cases, a traumatic brain injury (such as a concussion) may cause tinnitus because those processors start to misfire.
- Hearing loss: Frequently, hearing loss and tinnitus are joined at the hip. So, no matter what causes your hearing loss, you might also find yourself developing (or noticing) irreversible tinnitus alongside it.
Permanent tinnitus is significantly less common than its more temporary counterpart. But there are still millions of Us citizens each year who are treated for lasting, or chronic, tinnitus symptoms.
How Can You Get Your Tinnitus to Subside?
It doesn’t matter if your tinnitus is short lived or long term, you will want to get relief as quickly as possible. Despite the fact that there isn’t any cure for tinnitus, there are some things you can do to lessen symptoms (however long they may last):
- Use earplugs (or earmuffs): If you cannot steer clear of loud situations, then safeguarding your hearing is the next best option. (And, really, whether you suffer from tinnitus or not, you need to wear hearing protection.)
- Stay away from loud noises. Your symptoms might be prolonged or might become more severe if you continue to expose yourself to loud noises such as a jet engine or rock concerts.
- Try to stay calm: Maybe it sounds a little… abstract, but increased blood pressure can result in tinnitus flare ups so keeping calm can help keep your tinnitus under control.
- Find a way to cover up the sound: You can in some cases drown out the sound and get a restful nights sleep by using some source of white noise like a fan or humidifier.
Regrettably, none of these methods will get rid of long term tinnitus. But reducing and controlling your symptoms can be just as important.
How Long Before Your Tinnitus Disappears?
Your tinnitus, in most cases, will recede by itself. Just wait the 16-48 hours and your hearing should go back to normal. However, you will want to find a solution if your tinnitus lingers. The sooner you find a treatment that works, the sooner you can get relief. Get your hearing checked if you think you have hearing loss or tinnitus.
