People have suffered from sudden ear ringing or tinnitus for generations. Tinnitus is simply when someone hears a constant ringing in one or both of their ears, with no external sounds, noise or music present etc. This sudden ear ringing can vary from low to high pitch and it can be in one ear or both. At some point in most of our lives we have probably heard something like this but didn't consider it as having tinnitus because the sound did not last for very long.

It is possible for individuals to experience a sudden ringing of the ears. There are several different explanations of why this occurs. Most of the time, the ringing is not permanent and only lasts for a few minutes to a day or two. Sometimes the ringing of the ears is due to a build-up of wax or dirt in the ear canal. It is very dangerous to try to dig out the wax build-up. In order to cure this occurrence, buy an over-the-counter wash from your local drugstore that will clean the ear canal in a safe and gentle manner. You might also be experiencing sudden ear ringing due to an acute ear infection.

From time to time it is the prescribed or over-the-counter drugs that can cause a sudden onset of ear ringing. Unfortunately, on rare occasions these medications can actually lead to permanent tinnitus and/or hearing loss. It is also possible that once the prescribed amount is reduced, the ringing of the ears will be diminished or go away entirely. Some of the drugs that might having ear ringing as a side effect include naproxen sodium (Naprosyn, Aleve), loop-inhibiting diuretics, aminoglycoside antibiotics, quinine/anti-malarials, salicylate analgesics (which is higher doses of aspirin), oral contraceptives, ibuprofen and many other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants, and chemotherapy. Ear ringing relating to an ear infection might also be related to the use of ototoxic antibiotics.

Other causes of sudden ear ringing may be due to a trauma occurrence rather than something that occurs naturally like a dirty ear or an ear infection. Some automobile crash victims have reported a sudden onset of tinnitus after receiving a traumatic head injury. Some individuals have reported a sudden onset of tinnitus after receiving certain dental procedures such as a difficult tooth extraction or an ultrasonic cleaning that can cause hearing damage due to conduction of loud sounds through the bone directly to the ear. And of course, there is little you can do to protect your hearing in these instances. There is nothing that ear plugs can do because the sound is internal. A procedure you can protect your hearing from are MRI's, CAT's and other non-invasive scanning machines. These machines are very loud and could damage your hearing even if your head is outside of the machine while it is running. Most competent imaging facilities should supply you with earplugs.

With a sudden onset of ear ringing , you should consider the simplest explanation first. This condition may also be due to the recent exposure to a loud noise. Many people who have attended a concert complain of ear ringing for sometimes an entire day after the event is over. In these cases the ear ringing is due to the inner ear being damaged slightly and will not, in most cases, be permanent.