Wiki Q & A 2: The Wiki Strikes Back

The Question:

I have heard that when you get a ringing in your ear at a high frequency that when it ends you never hear that frequency again. Is that true? And if not, why do we sometimes hear ringing in our ears?

The Answer:

First of all, I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to get an answer for this. The Internet is a vast plethora of information and sorting through it to determine the best answer takes some time. Now, for the answer, we turn to Dr. Wiki.

The "ringing in your ears" phenomenon is part of an overall problem known as Tinnitus. While Tinnitus is not a disease, it does represent a symtom of a much larger problem. "Ringing" in the ears can be caused by excessive exposure to loud noises or even head injuries. Because of this, after being near a speaker and leaving it's vicinity, there can be a ringing in your ear. This does not mean that you will never hear that high frequency again. The ringing is more of a future reminder that that noise was a bit too loud for your ears.

Therefore, in response to your question, the "ringing in your ears" is only there to remind you to not listen to such loud music - or, in the event of a head injury, that your ears are still working fine. There's plenty of technical jargon that I could go into, but that would just be too much. Especially for me trying to type it out. So, there.

For further information, go to Web MD and search "Tinnitus".

UPDATE: There came an additional question regarding why there is ringing in your ears if you have not had the head trauma or heard loud noise. Therefore, this update:

All kinds of things, from ear infections to ruptured eardrums to ear squeezes to high blood pressure.