Short-lived ringing in the ears after a concert, a loud tool or a bad cold is common and usually settles within 24 to 48 hours. Ringing that lasts more than two weeks, affects only one ear, pulses with your heartbeat, or comes with dizziness or sudden hearing loss is not routine and should be assessed. If you are unsure which category you are in, a tinnitus assessment in Aylesbury will settle it in one appointment.
Ringing that is almost always harmless
- • A brief high-pitched tone in one ear lasting a few seconds, then fading. This is extremely common and means nothing.
- • Ringing for a day or two after a gig, a nightclub, a power tool or shooting - a temporary threshold shift.
- • Ringing you only notice in a completely silent room at night.
- • Mild ringing alongside a heavy cold or blocked nose, which settles as the congestion does.
None of these need an appointment on their own. What they do need is attention to the pattern: if post-noise ringing is happening after every event, the exposure is causing cumulative damage even though each episode resolves.
Ringing that should be checked within a few weeks
| Pattern | What it may indicate | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|
| Constant for more than two weeks | Hearing loss, wax, or a middle ear issue | Book an assessment |
| One ear only, persistent | Asymmetric hearing loss - needs ruling out | Within weeks |
| With muffled hearing and fullness | Wax blockage or middle ear fluid | Within weeks |
| Changes when you clench your jaw | Jaw joint dysfunction | Within weeks, dental or audiology |
| Getting steadily louder over months | Progressive hearing change | Book an assessment |
Ringing that needs urgent attention
Get urgent medical advice if tinnitus starts suddenly in one ear, pulses in time with your heartbeat, follows a head injury, or comes with sudden hearing loss, dizziness or facial weakness. Sudden one-sided hearing loss is treated as an emergency and needs same-day assessment.
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is the one people miss. If hearing drops noticeably in one ear over hours or a couple of days, with or without ringing, that is an emergency: treatment within 72 hours substantially improves the outcome. Do not wait for a routine appointment - contact 111 or your GP the same day.
Pulsatile tinnitus is the other. A whooshing that keeps exact time with your pulse is real sound from turbulent blood flow rather than a phantom perception, and it needs medical investigation rather than audiological management alone.
What happens when you get it checked
An assessment is not a five-minute look in the ear. It is a structured process: history, otoscopy, a full diagnostic audiogram across all frequencies, pitch and loudness matching to characterise the sound you are hearing, and an impact questionnaire. The output is a written plan rather than a shrug. You can read the full step-by-step on our what happens at a tinnitus assessment page, including how long each stage takes.
If wax turns out to be the cause, it is usually cleared the same day. If hearing loss is the driver, the conversation turns to hearing aids. If neither applies, management focuses on sound therapy and habituation.
What not to do while you wait
- • Do not push cotton buds into the canal. If wax is involved, you will make it worse.
- • Do not sit in silence testing whether it is still there. Attention amplifies it.
- • Do not buy a supplement marketed as a tinnitus cure.
- • Do not stop a prescribed medication you suspect is responsible without speaking to your prescriber.
Do keep a short diary instead: when it is worst, what you were doing, how you slept. That information genuinely changes what a clinician recommends.
Frequently asked questions
Clinical References & Sources
- NICE CKS (2024). Tinnitus: clinical knowledge summary. cks.nice.org.uk
- NHS (2023). Tinnitus. nhs.uk
- Tinnitus UK (2024). About tinnitus. tinnitus.org.uk
- NHS. Sudden hearing loss: when to get urgent advice. nhs.uk
Reviewed 27 July 2026. Next scheduled review: September 2026.