You have probably heard of tinnitus. If you don't have it yourself, you may well know someone who does. It is a common hearing disorder causing the sufferer to experience a noise when no outside sound source is present. The word tinnitus originates from the Latin word meaing 'to ring'. Some sufferers describe the sound in other ways such as humming or buzzing.

There are several causes which include:-

Noise induced hearing loss. From exposure to excessive noise volume or duration. Associated with deafness; easily preventable by wearing ZenPlugs ear plugs.
Foreign body. An object or insect stuck in the ear canal.
Impacted wax. This can cause tinnitus until it is removed.
Syringing. This unfortunate side-effect means this procedure is now rarely recommended. Suction is recommended instead.
Vascular disease. Vessel blockage near the ear canal can result in the sufferer hearing the rush of blood through the arteries.
Otosclerosis. Stiffening of the ossicles in the ear; tiny bones which conduct sound from the drum to the sensory parts of the ear.
Acoustic neuroma. This very rare tumour of the acoustic nerve can cause tinnitus.

As you can see many of these causes are reversible, some are not. Some are avoidable, some are not. It is important if you are exposed to either high volume noise or prolonged low-volume noise that you wear effective ear plugs like ours from http://zenplugs.com/. This is to protect your hearing from permanent damage. Molded ear plugs are ideal as they are comfortable and excellent at keeping noise out due to their fitted seal.