Ringing ears
Are your ears ringing? Or do you hear hissing, buzzing or roaring in your ears? Then you probably have tinnitus.
What is ringing in the ears?
Ringing ears, also called tinnitus, is noises or sounds in the ears or in the head that do not come from any external source. Ringing in the ears is artificial sounds that occur in the head or in the ears.
It can be a permanent or a constant ringing in the ears, or it can emerge occasionally. It can also be temporary and disappear after some time, e.g. after exposure to loud noise for longer time such as at rock concerts or the use of noisy tools, or it can emerge after exposure to sudden very loud sounds, such as an explosion.
Some are very bothered by an intense and/or loud ringing in their ears. Others do not experience the ringing in their ears as annoying and can live an almost normal life with the sounds in their head.
What causes ringing in the ears?
The causes of ringing ears may vary. But the most common cause of ringing ears is exposure to noise. It can be noise related to work or noise from leisure activities like working with noisy tools or it may occur after exposure to loud sounds at noisy events, loud music at concerts or when listening to music using headphones at too high volume for too long time.
Tinnitus (ringing ears) may also be caused by e.g. drugs, diseases, stress and head injuries.
How to stop ringing in the ears?
How do I get rid of ringing in the ears? Is there a cure for ringing ears? Unfortunately, there is yet no scientifically proven cure or treatment for tinnitus or a treatment that can reduce the sounds in the head.
Instead, it is possible for most people to live with tinnitus and different types of coping strategies may help reduce the ringing in the ears, or at least the experience of ringing in the ears.
Ringing ears and hearing loss
Many who experience ringing ears (tinnitus) may also have a hearing loss. Medical research has shown that there is a relationship between tinnitus and hearing loss and that those who have tinnitus also have some degree of hearing loss, even though it may only be a minor hearing loss.
If you also have hearing loss that needs to be treated, hearing aids can improve your hearing and improved hearing often reduces the experienced tinnitus. If you think that you have both tinnitus and hearing loss, you should contact a hearing professional or a doctor.