After coming up from under the water, one of your ears, or both of them, usually ring. But it doesn’t last for long. You go home and shrug it off like one of those minor blisters you get from stray jellyfish.

But the ringing continues ands it seems to be getting louder. A normal ear ringing should not go beyond 30 days.

Common cause of ringing in ears

Some ear rings may arise from complicated reasons which only audiologists can understand. For your personal safety, however, some of these are:

1. Tinnitus. It is basically an ear infection that irritates your eardrum and the nerves around it. The infection can be caused by noise, water, ear-cleaning buds, insect bites, among others. Tinnitus goes away after some time, but if you can’t stand it, you can take Vitamin  C pills or have a diet rich with Vitamin C.  Some foods cause tinnitus—dairy products especially. It has been shown that when you ward your mind off from tinnitus it just goes away (granted there’s no ear infection involved).

2. Tinnitus arising from tooth decay pains. A mean tooth decay causes unbearable pain that results in a deafening sensation inside our ears. Serious tinnitus may lead to complete hearing loss. This means your eardrum is broken and it may require replacement surgery.

When you have tinnitus for long, you may have headaches, build up of earwax, and sometimes a swollen acoustic nerve inside your ear.

3. Aging. The ringing in your ear may be a prelude to early ageing. People in their 60s report hearing occasional strange sounds from within their ear. If it’s genetic then there’s not much you can do about it. But thanks to advanced technology today, hearing aids come in very handy, and nanotechnology promises microchip implants that can bring back your hearing as though you were 21!

4. Exposure to too much noise. Nothing unusual, really.  This is a common occurrence  to rock concert-goers and electronic music ravers. The music is pumped up really loud in these places that it can make your hair stand on end. You can remedy this by simply staying put for a while.

5. Medicine related. When you’re under medication, you take quite a number of medicine all at once, so expect to get that ringing sound in your ears. Many drugs especially those that are taken in high doses can cause your ear to ring. The worst case scenario is when you get overdosed that you don’t hear anything at all!

6. Ear infection. Because you clean your ear more than what’s necessary, a sensitive nerve is touched in there and it swells. As your ear tissues respond to the swelling it hardens, thus leading to a buzzing or ringing sound inside your ear.

How to treat tinnitus

Since ordinary tinnitus doesn’t get past 30 days, you don’t need to panic. Avoid touching your ear frequently. Don’t poke your ear nor scratch it. Have a diet rich with zinc and iron. You may consider using mild eardrops made from oil, but don’t put too much in your ear.

Some years back an interesting study came out saying people with smaller ears tend to live longer. They didn’t say if small ears tend to ring louder.