Tinnitus is a hearing problem that happens when you hear loud noises for a long time. It can last for a long time or a short time. Short-term tinnitus usually goes away in 16-48 hours, but long-term tinnitus may never go away and will need a hearing aid to make is less noticeable.
The snail-shaped cochlea in the inner ear has tiny hair cells on it. These hair cells help us hear. When sound comes into the ear, these tiny hairs move and send a message to the brain. The brain hears sounds in them. As you get older, these hair cells get damaged and send the brain bad signals. This is what causes tinnitus.
How Long Can Tinnitus Last?
There isn’t a good way to figure out how long tinnitus will last. It can last for a short time after being at a rock show or an airport where there is a lot of loud noise. In some cases, it can take up to two weeks to go away.
If you’ve had tinnitus for a long time, you probably always hear a low ringing in your ear. This could be loud and annoying, or it could be quiet and hard to notice unless you pay attention. High decibel noise is what causes tinnitus to last for a long time. It won’t go away on its own.
Can You Get Rid of Mild Tinnitus?
Most of the time, tinnitus is mild and short-term. It is caused by loud sounds like power tools, music, airplanes and lawnmowers. The decibel levels of these devices and engines are much higher than the recommended 75-80 decibel levels. This mild ringing in the ears should go away in a few days.
Mild tinnitus caused by short-term exposure to high decibel noise should go away quickly on its own, but mild tinnitus caused by long-term exposure to noise will not go away on its own. You will need to talk to an audiologist about how to fix this problem.
Is It Short or Long Term?
Noises that hurt the sensitive hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear can cause tinnitus. You can’t fix or replace these hairs, so if they get broken, your hearing may be hurt for a long time. Damage to the hair cells can happen after a loud event or over time.
Temporary tinnitus usually only lasts for a short time. The decibel levels have changed the hair cells, but they are not broken or damaged. For a short time, the brain just reads the signals differently. When tinnitus is permanent, these hair cells are broken, making the condition last forever.
Will It Go Away After Six Months?
Even though the tiny hair cells of the cochlea don’t grow back or fix themselves after an injury, they can recover from a setback and get back to normal after a few weeks or months.
If you have been exposed to loud noises and have tinnitus as a result, it will probably go away in a few days or weeks. Temporary ringing in the ears can last for up to a year. After that, your hearing should be back to normal.
