Tinnitus may come and go, or you may be aware of a continuous sound. It can vary in pitch from a low roar to a high squeal or whine, and you may hear it in one or both ears. When the ringing is constant, it can be annoying and distracting. More than seven million people are afflicted so severely that they cannot lead normal lives. Not usually, but sometimes they are able to hear a certain type of tinnitus.
Most tinnitus comes from damage to the microscopic endings of the hearing nerve in the inner ear.
The health of these nerve endings is important for acute hearing, and injury to them brings on hearing loss and often tinnitus. If you are older, advancing age is generally accompanied by a certain amount of hearing nerve impairment and tinnitus. If you are younger, exposure to loud noise is probably the leading cause of tinnitus, and often damages hearing as well. If you take aspirin and your ears ring, talk to your doctor about dosage in relation to your size. Treatment will be quite different in each case of tinnitus.