When you hear ringing, buzzing, or hissing in your ears with no external source, you’re dealing with tinnitus, a symptom, not a disease, that affects how the brain processes sound signals. Also known as ringing in the ears, it’s not just annoying—it can be disabling, especially when it never stops. Tinnitus doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s often tied to something physical, something you can track down and sometimes fix.
The most common cause? noise exposure, damage to the inner ear’s tiny hair cells from loud sounds over time. Think concerts, power tools, or even headphones turned up too high for years. It’s not just a one-time event—repeated exposure slowly wears down your hearing system. Another big one is hearing loss, especially age-related or from long-term noise. Even if you don’t think you’re losing hearing, tinnitus often shows up as the first warning sign. The brain starts overcompensating for missing frequencies, and that’s when the phantom sounds begin.
Medications can also trigger it. High doses of aspirin, certain antibiotics, and even some diuretics are known to cause temporary or lasting tinnitus. It’s not always the drug itself—it’s how your body reacts to it. And if you have ear damage, from infections, earwax blockage, or head injuries, that can throw off your auditory system too. Even conditions like high blood pressure or TMJ disorders can make tinnitus worse, because they affect blood flow or nerve signals near the ear.
What you won’t find in most guides? The fact that stress doesn’t cause tinnitus—but it makes it louder. Anxiety and sleep loss create a feedback loop: the ringing stresses you out, and that stress makes the ringing harder to ignore. It’s not in your head—it’s in your nervous system’s response to it.
Below, you’ll find real stories and science-backed breakdowns of what’s behind the noise. Some posts explain how hearing damage builds up over time. Others show how common drugs quietly trigger symptoms. There’s even one on how insurance changes can affect your access to hearing aids that help manage it. No fluff. Just what works, what doesn’t, and what you need to know before your next doctor visit.
Posted By Kieran Beauchamp On 3 Dec 2025 Comments (12)
Many medications can cause ringing in the ears-known as tinnitus. Learn which drugs are most likely to trigger it, how soon symptoms appear, whether it's reversible, and what steps to take if you suspect your medicine is the cause.
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