# Sudden tinnitus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311 "2012-08-12T22:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/1 "2012-08-12T22:50:27Z")
About five minutes ago, I suddenly started hearing a pure tone. (high “C” if you’re curious.) I have eliminated possible outside sources. Then I put cotton in my ears, and covered them with my hands. It is definitely inside my head. Does tinnitus strike all of a sudden like that? I was not exposed to any loud noises, music in headphones, etc. right before it happened. And, because I type fairly slowly, it’s probably been 15 minutes now. Huh. At least it’s on key. No telling what I might do if it was slightly flat.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/2 "2012-08-12T22:59:24Z")
My lay opinion. This could be anything from some minor odd thing to a TIA/stroke :eek: My SO had a TIA. One symptom was hearing stuff that wasn’t there. You know how normally you go the ER and unless you got an arm cut off you sit out there for hours? They heard the hearing stuff, almost freaked out , and we were back seeing a doctor before most of the paperwork had even been signed. So, IMO this is NOT something to frack around with. At the VERY VERY least you need to have some around to keep an eye on you. But personally I’d go to the ER post haste (having someone drive you is probably a much better idea). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/3 "2012-08-12T23:05:38Z")
Have you increased your aspirin intake recently? Or been exposed to loud noises? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/4 "2012-08-13T00:11:56Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > My lay opinion. > > \ > > My SO had a TIA. One symptom was hearing stuff that wasn’t there. You know how normally you go the ER and unless you got an arm cut off you sit out there for hours? **They heard the hearing stuff, almost freaked out** , and we were back seeing a doctor before most of the paperwork had even been signed. > > So, IMO this is NOT something to frack around with. [. . .] If your SO’s tinnitus was so loud that even the ER staff could hear it, I’m not surprised they almost freaked out. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/5 "2012-08-13T00:19:36Z")
heh 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/6 "2012-08-13T00:36:42Z")
Sometimes I get a random high pitched tone. It normally disappears after a minute or so and I think rubbing my ear helps. I’ve always taken it as something innocuous and normal. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/7 "2012-08-13T00:46:49Z")
Yeah I get what Bozuit has pretty often. Right now, in fact. Just in one ear. Very high pitch, loud enough to be annoying. Overall hearing is not that great, though, and I’m middle aged, so I always thought it was kind of normal. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/8 "2012-08-13T01:00:38Z")
I developed sudden persistent tinnitus in my left ear a few weeks ago. After two days I went to the doctor. I had an ear infection. The ringing stopped a couple days into the antibiotic. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/9 "2012-08-13T01:32:39Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Sometimes I get a random high pitched tone. It normally disappears after a minute or so … I’ve always taken it as something innocuous and normal. Oh, me too. Thanks for mentioning this; you know how you never know if you are the only person who experiences something a certain way? I actually thought about that while posting, but I wasn’t sure if it happened to anyone else. This isn’t that, though. Excuse my ignorance – what’s a TIA? (I’ll go look it up, but perhaps there are others who should know.) ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/10 "2012-08-13T01:37:57Z")
[TIA.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_ischemic_attack) ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/11 "2012-08-13T22:00:45Z")
I’ve have had the persistent tinnitus for 30 years, a ‘‘ringing’’ as they often say. A couple of times a month or so I suddenly get the high pitched constant tone in my left ear and that disappears soon. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tinnitus/631311/12 "2012-08-13T22:45:46Z")
Here’s a link to a thread I started a month back ( which contain’s link’s supplied by **Vinyl Turnip** to other tinnitus threads. Incidently, after 8 weeks or so mine has spuriously cleared up! Just yesterday. As surprised as I was when I first noticed it, I was equally surprised when I realised I was no longer conscious of it. > **[Tell me about your Tinnitus](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658836)** > > Its not super annoying, maybe it is as S & G said, the sound of silence. But obviously it isn’t because I am conscious of it. In my past I had only ever heard sounds like a high frequency hiss if ever I had been very drunk or suffering from a...