When you first notice that ringing in your ears you may have a very typical reaction: pretend that it’s no big deal. You go through your day the same as usual: you have a conversation with friends, go shopping, and make lunch. While at the same time you try your best to dismiss that ringing. Because there is one thing you feel sure about: your tinnitus will go away by itself.
You start to worry, though, when after a couple of days the buzzing and ringing is unrelenting.
This scenario happens to others as well. At times tinnitus stop on its own, and other times it will stick around and that’s the reason why it’s a challenging little condition.
When Tinnitus is Likely to Disappear on Its Own
Tinnitus is very common everywhere, nearly everybody’s had a bout here and there. Tinnitus is a non-permanent condition, in most instances, and will eventually vanish on it’s own. A rock concert is an excellent example: you go to your local arena to see your favorite band and you discover, when you get home, that your ears are ringing.
Within a few days the type of tinnitus associated with damage from loud noise will normally fade away (and you chalk it up to the price of seeing your favorite band on stage).
Over time hearing loss can go from temporary or “acute” to permanent or “chronic” because of this exact kind of injury. Too many of those kinds of concerts and you could wind up with permanent tinnitus.
sometimes, Tinnitus Doesn’t Just Disappear
If your tinnitus persists for over three months it’s then classified as chronic tinnitus (but you should get it checked by an expert long before that).
Around 5-15% of individuals around the world have recorded symptoms of chronic tinnitus. While there are some understood close associations (like hearing loss, for instance), the causes of tinnitus aren’t yet well comprehended.
Normally, a fast cure for tinnitus will be evasive if the causes aren’t clear. If your ears have been ringing for over three months and there’s no discernible cause, there’s a strong possibility that the sound will not go away by itself. In those instances, there are treatment possibilities available (like cognitive behavioral therapy or noise-canceling devices) that can help you control symptoms and protect your quality of life.
The Reason For Your Tinnitus is Relevant
It becomes much easier to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus when you can recognize the underlying causes. If a bacterial ear infection is, for example, the reason for your tinnitus, you can restore a healthy ear and clear hearing by managing it with antibiotics.
Here are some likely causes of acute tinnitus:
- Meniere’s disease (this usually has no cure and is often associated with chronic tinnitus)
- Eardrum damage (such as a perforated eardrum)
- A blockage in the ear or ear canal
- Chronic ear infections
- Hearing loss (again, this is often associated with chronic tinnitus)
So…Will The Buzzing in My Ears Stop?
In general, your tinnitus will go away on its own. But the longer it hangs around, the longer you hear reverberations or humming or whatever the sound happens to be, the more likely it becomes that you’re coping with chronic tinnitus.
You can convince yourself there’s nothing wrong and hope that the buzzing will simply stop. But there may come a point where your tinnitus begins to become distressing, where it’s difficult to focus because the sound is too disruptive. In those situations, wishful thinking may not be the extensive treatment plan you require.
In most instances, however, in fact, throughout most of your life, your tinnitus will normally go away on its own, a normal response to a loud environment (and your body’s method of telling you to stay away from that environment from now on). Whether that’s chronic or acute tinnitus, well, we’ll only know over time.