It's not always clear what causes tinnitus.
Many cases of tinnitus are linked with hearing loss caused by damage to your inner ear. But about 1 in 3 people with tinnitus do not have any obvious problem with their ears or hearing.
Tinnitus is also often linked to:
- age
- being exposed to high noise levels at work
- Ménière's disease - a rare inner ear condition
- anxiety or depression - these can make it worse
- taking certain medication, such as some chemotherapy medicines, antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirin
- earwax build-up
- middle ear infection
- a build-up of fluid in the middle ear
- a perforated eardrum
- otosclerosis - a condition where abnormal bone growth in your ear causes hearing loss
Less common causes of tinnitus include:
- a head injury
- sudden or very loud noise, such as an explosion
- anaemia
- acoustic neuroma - a rare non-cancerous growth that affects the hearing nerve
- type 1 and 2 diabetes
- narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis)
- high blood pressure (hypertension)
- an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism)
- underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)
- Paget's disease - a condition that affects your bones
Emergency action required: Call 999 or 112 or go to the nearest emergency department (ED) if
you have tinnitus:
- after a head injury
- with sudden hearing loss
- with weakness in the muscles of your face
- with a spinning sensation (vertigo)
Non-urgent advice: Contact a GP if:
- you have tinnitus a lot or all of the time
- your tinnitus is getting worse
- your tinnitus is bothering you - for example, it's affecting your sleep or concentration, or is making you feel anxious and depressed
- you have tinnitus that beats in time with your pulse (pulsatile tinnitus)
Content supplied by the NHS and adapted for Ireland by the HSE
