Tinnitus (ringing in the ears): causes, tests and treatment
What tinnitus is, its common causes, the warning signs that need prompt checks, the hearing tests involved, and the sound and talking therapies that help.
What tinnitus is
Tinnitus is hearing a sound that does not come from outside — a ringing, buzzing, hissing, whistling or humming in one or both ears, or in the head. It is a symptom rather than a disease. Most people notice brief tinnitus at some point, for example after a loud concert. When it lasts for months, it is called persistent tinnitus.
Tinnitus is very often linked to some degree of hearing loss, even if you have not noticed it. When the inner ear sends less sound to the brain, the brain seems to 'turn up the volume' and generates its own noise. For most people tinnitus is a nuisance that becomes less noticeable with time. For some it disturbs sleep, concentration and mood, and that is when help matters most.
Symptoms
- Ringing, buzzing, hissing, whistling or roaring sounds
- A pulsing sound in time with your heartbeat (pulsatile tinnitus)
- Sound that is louder in quiet rooms and at night
- Hearing loss, or difficulty following conversation in noisy places
- Difficulty sleeping, poor concentration, irritability, anxiety or low mood
- Sensitivity to everyday sounds
Causes and who is at risk
- Age-related hearing loss
- Noise exposure — loud music through earphones, concerts, firecrackers, traffic, factories, construction and other noisy workplaces
- Ear wax blocking the ear canal
- Middle ear infections, glue ear, or a perforated eardrum
- Ménière's disease — attacks of vertigo, hearing loss and tinnitus
- Otosclerosis, a condition of the middle ear bones
- Some medicines, including certain antibiotics, some cancer medicines and high doses of aspirin — do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own, but ask about it
- Head or neck injury, jaw joint problems, high blood pressure
- Stress, anxiety and depression, which often make tinnitus feel louder
- Rarely, a benign tumour on the hearing nerve (acoustic neuroma)
Long hours with earphones at high volume are an increasingly common cause of noise damage in young people.
How it is diagnosed
The doctor will ask about the sound, when it started, whether it is in one ear or both, whether it pulses, your noise exposure, medicines and any dizziness. Tests usually include:
- Ear examination — to look for wax, infection or a perforated eardrum
- Pure tone audiometry — a hearing test that measures the quietest sounds you can hear at different pitches
- Tympanometry — checks how the eardrum and middle ear are working
- MRI scan — if tinnitus is in one ear only, comes with hearing loss in one ear, or other features suggest a problem with the hearing nerve or brain
Pulsatile tinnitus may need scans of the blood vessels, and blood pressure and blood tests may be checked. Hearing tests are often carried out by an audiologist, a trained hearing professional who also fits hearing aids and provides sound therapy.
Which doctor to see
An ENT surgeon assesses tinnitus, treats ear causes and arranges scans when needed. An audiologist tests hearing and provides hearing aids and tinnitus management. A psychologist or psychiatrist can help when tinnitus causes significant distress, anxiety or depression.
You can find ENT surgeons in Bengaluru or audiologists in Bengaluru on The Doctor Index, each with a registration you can check.
Treatment
Treating the cause comes first: removing wax, treating an ear infection, adjusting a medicine, or managing Ménière's disease or high blood pressure. Sometimes this stops the tinnitus. More often there is no single fixable cause, and the aim becomes reducing how loud and how bothersome the tinnitus feels. This is very achievable for most people.
- Hearing aids — for people with hearing loss, they bring back outside sound so the tinnitus is less noticeable, and many include built-in sound generators.
- Sound therapy — gentle background sound from a fan, soft music, nature sounds or a small sound generator, especially at night, makes tinnitus less intrusive.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy — a structured talking therapy that changes how you react to tinnitus, with good evidence for reducing distress, sleep problems and anxiety.
- Tinnitus counselling and retraining programmes, which combine education with sound therapy.
There is no tablet or supplement proven to stop tinnitus, and products advertised as tinnitus cures should be treated with caution. Medicines for sleep, anxiety or depression can help some people, on a doctor's advice. Do not stop prescribed medicines on your own.
Living with tinnitus and protecting your hearing
- Keep earphone volume low and take listening breaks; noise-cancelling headphones let you listen at lower volume
- Wear ear protection at work in noisy environments and at loud events
- Avoid complete silence; use background sound at bedtime
- Look after sleep, exercise and stress
- Do not clean the ears with cotton buds or objects
- Have your hearing checked if tinnitus changes or hearing worsens
When it needs urgent attention
See an ENT surgeon within a day or two for sudden hearing loss in one ear — prompt treatment can improve the chance of recovery — and soon for tinnitus in one ear only, or pulsatile tinnitus. Call 112 or 108, or go to the nearest emergency department, if tinnitus comes with:
- Weakness of the face, arm or leg, slurred speech or confusion
- Severe headache, or a head injury
- Severe dizziness with vomiting and inability to walk
- Thoughts of harming yourself because of distress — say so and get help immediately
Questions to ask at your appointment
- Is there a cause for my tinnitus that can be treated?
- Do I have hearing loss?
- Do I need an MRI scan?
- Would hearing aids or sound therapy help me?
- Can you refer me for cognitive behavioural therapy or tinnitus counselling?
- Could any of my medicines be contributing?
Common questions
Questions people ask
- Will my tinnitus go away?
- Tinnitus caused by wax, an infection or brief loud noise often settles. Persistent tinnitus may not disappear completely, but for most people it becomes much less noticeable over months, especially with sound therapy, hearing aids if needed, and help with sleep and stress.
- Is tinnitus a sign of something serious?
- Usually not. Most tinnitus is linked to hearing loss or noise exposure. It needs prompt checks if it is in one ear only, pulses with your heartbeat, comes with sudden hearing loss, or comes with dizziness, facial weakness or other nervous system symptoms.
- Can earphones cause tinnitus?
- Yes. Listening at high volume for long periods can damage the inner ear and cause both tinnitus and hearing loss. Keep the volume moderate, take breaks, and use noise-cancelling headphones in noisy places so that you do not need to turn the sound up.
- Are there medicines that cure tinnitus?
- No medicine or supplement has been proven to stop tinnitus. Treatments that help most are those that address the cause, improve hearing, provide background sound and reduce distress, such as cognitive behavioural therapy. Be cautious about products marketed as cures.
This condition is usually assessed by an ENT surgeon. Every profile shows the doctor’s registration and what has been checked.
ENT surgeons in Bangalore
A few ent surgeons listed on The Doctor Index. They are shown because of their speciality, not a stated interest in Tinnitus; ask the clinic whether the doctor sees it.
Related conditions
Practical reading
All postsSources
- MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine — Tinnitus
- American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (ENT Health) — Tinnitus
- MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine — Tinnitus — Public-domain health-topic summary
- Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium — terminology definitions — HPO licence; definitions reproduced without alteration
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears): causes, tests and treatment is original text by The Doctor Index; the compiled source draft was used for research. Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999; July 2026 data, CC BY 4.0. This product uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (hp/releases/2026-09-01). Only sources listed for this article apply. Source material has been selected and arranged; HPO definitions are reproduced without alteration. No source organisation endorses this compilation. Köhler S et al. The Human Phenotype Ontology project: linking molecular biology and disease through phenotype data. Nucleic Acids Research 2014;42(D1):D966–D974. doi:10.1093/nar/gkt1026.
General information, not advice about your situation. Errors can be reported through the corrections process. Reference TDI-C-2331.