What to Do If You Experience Ear Ringing

If you wake up one day and you suddenly notice ear ringing or if you gradually become aware that there is a buzzing in your ears that no one else hears, you may not know what to do.  But, there is something you can do about ear ringing. 

The first thing you should do is to wait a few days.  Make sure the ear ringing isn’t something that will go away very quickly.  This could especially be true if you just came from a loud concert or were around some other loud noise for a short time.  If the damage is not too great, the tiny hairs of the auditory nerve endings could repair themselves in just a few days.  Then there would be no need to do anything different. 

If, however, the ear ringing lasts, you should seek medical attention.  This is important because the tinnitus could be due to one of many very serious medical conditions.  You could be suffering from uncontrolled high blood pressure or diabetes.  You could have a tumor or growth.  You might have an ear infection that needs to be dealt with, or you could have Lyme disease.  If your ear ringing is caused by any of these, it is necessary to know about it. 

Once other diseases and conditions are ruled out, and if the ear ringing persists, you should be referred to an otolaryngologist ( a eye, ear, and throat doctor) or an otologist (an ear doctor).  These types of doctors are specialists in diagnosing and treating the different types of tinnitus.  If you’re going to go to the trouble and expense of treatment, you may as well go to someone who knows the most. 

Your specialty doctor will discuss your ear ringing with you.  He or she will ask a lot of questions about your tinnitus.  The doctor will need to know when it gets better and worse, what noises you hear, how loud it seems to you, and what, if any, treatments you have already tried. 

The next thing on your doctor’s agenda will be to do all kinds of tests.  These include physical examination of the ears and an audiogram to determine hearing loss. The doctor will probably also do X-rays and lab work.  In some cases, you might have to have an MRI done.  With all this information, the doctor will make a recommendation concerning your ear ringing. 

There are many things that you can do for yourself once you know that your tinnitus is a permanent condition.  However, the sooner you know what you’re dealing with, the more confident you will be about trying to cope with your ear ringing.