Hearing Aids Tinnitus: Restored Hearing can Suppress Tinnitus

Acute tinnitus is generally thought of as having occurred within 6 months. After 6 months suffering with tinnitus, it may considered a chronic or more long term condition.

The first few days to weeks after developing tinnitus are a particularly stressful time. There are numerous factors that can lead to the spontaneous sensation of tinnitus with the most common being loud noise exposure.

If you do believe that your tinnitus may be due to loud noise exposure, then you must ensure you prevent the potential of further damaging your hearing by avoiding loud environments. Some people feel the noise induced hearing loss as a sensation of fullness in the affected ear.

However, it is equally important that you do not subject yourself to silence and to enrich your environment with sound. Leave the windows open (if it is safe to do so) or listen to music, or at best use a tinnitus masker. I know it is a bit of self promotion, but it can be crucial. When I first developed tinnitus, I used to turn on my gas fire as it hummed at the same frequency as my tinnitus. It enabled me to get to sleep, but I actually made my own tinnitus masker as the gas fire was using a lot of energy and made the room uncomfortably hot.

More times than not, tinnitus will disappear by itself, but if you constantly hear it, then it can create an obsessive compulsion that could potentially result in the tinnitus being engrained in the conciousness. So avoid silence!

You must also seek your GP as the tinnitus could be part of a more serious underlying disease, although more often than not, it isn't. You must also ask for a consultation with an ENT (Ear Nose Throat) physician who can provide more detailed information than your local family doctor.

And finally, do not stress out about your tinnitus. Stress activates the 'fight or flight reflex' which can intensify the loudness of the tinnitus, worsening the symptoms. So seek support, avoid silence, and more often than not, the tinnitus will lessen in severity, if not completely disappear within 6 months.