Are you anxious about the ringing in your ears? How long does Tinnitus usually last? Are you going to suffer from Tinnitus forever? These pressing questions are answered below. But, before we do that, we want to tell you that you are not alone. 50 Million Americans1 are affected by Tinnitus every year. 10 to 12 Million of them develop chronic Tinnitus. Around 1 to 2 Million from that 10 Million or so people will develop a severe form of Tinnitus that affects everything in their everyday life. There are no FDA approved cures for Tinnitus.
When is Tinnitus Temporary?
If it has only been minutes or hours since your Tinnitus came on, there’s a chance that it could still be temporary. Here’s how likely your bout of Tinnitus will be just temporary, based on how long it lasts;
What is Your Tinnitus Handicap Score?
Calculate your THI Score in about 2-3 Minutes
| Tinnitus Lasts Less Than… | How Likely to be Temporary |
| 1 Hour | 98% |
| Half a Day | 76% |
| 24 Hours | 68% |
| 48 Hours | 54% |
| 72 Hours | 37% |
| 2 Weeks | 13% |
* These are statistics that I personally researched by browsing forums and following journeys of people who have suffered from Tinnitus. It was something I did when I was struggling with Tinnitus. If you are interested in seeing my data sets, please get in touch through my contact page. I’ll be happy to share them with you.
Common Causes of Temporary Tinnitus
- Hearing Loss – 90% of Tinnitus patients also suffer from sort of hearing loss. When you begin to lose your hearing because of age, cells in your ear die. Your brain misunderstands this cell death as complete hearing loss and invents sounds to normalize your hearing. The result is Tinnitus or ringing in the ears
- Loud noise – Was your Tinnitus triggered by exposure to a loud noise? If you are experiencing ringing in the ears because you attended a loud concert or were exposed to decibel levels over 100 dB, there’s a chance that your T can go away in a few hours, when your ears recover from the trauma
- Perforated Eardrum – Sudden changes in pressure (when on a aircraft, while swimming or even blowing your nose too hard) can cause a perforated eardrum which can then result in Tinnitus. If you believe your Tinnitus began after such an event, please have yourself examined by an ENT specialist to see if you are suffering from a perforated eardrum. This is thankfully a treatable condition
- Infection – Sometimes, an ear infection can bring on an onset of Tinnitus. If you are experiencing discharge from the ears or ear pain, especially when you lie down, you could be suffering from Tinnitus caused by an infection. This Tinnitus condition is also temporary and will subside when your ear infection is addressed. For an infection, it is best you visit an ENT, as soon as possible.
Read about other causes of Tinnitus here.
If it has been less than 24 to 48 hours since the ringing in your ears began, you might want to watch out for these telltale signs that Tinnitus is going away.
How Severe is Your Tinnitus?
Find out by using this THI (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory) Scoring Calculator
When is Tinnitus Permanent?
There are unfortunately some circumstances where your Tinnitus can be classified as permanent or chronic. Such circumstances are explained below;
- Your Tinnitus is accompanied by Hearing Loss – If you are experiencing hearing loss along with ringing in the ears, it almost always means that your Tinnitus is permanent. But, even if you have hearing loss, the brain supplement mentioned above can help with both your hearing and Tinnitus
- Brain Injury – If you have recently suffered head trauma that might have caused an injury to the brain, your Tinnitus might almost always be irreversible
- You have had Tinnitus many times before – If your Tinnitus episodes have come and gone before, you could very well assume that your Tinnitus is permanent
- You suffer from Meniere’s disease – This is a disease that causes vertigo and other balance problems and is almost always accompanied by Tinnitus
What Can You Do When You Have Tinnitus?
Tinnitus unfortunately does not have a cure. Supplements, pills and devices that you see are usually outright scams or products that work for a very small % of Tinnitus sufferers. At Tinnitus and You, we are completely against promoting any pills, supplements or gimmicky devices. What you can do is eat right, make some lifestyle changes and correct your vitamin levels to see if Tinnitus will ease. You can learn about all this at Tinnitus and You, our self-help blog.
1 – Understanding the Facts | American Tinnitus Association (ata.org)