What to do today
A few quick steps give a clinician what they need and protect your hearing while you wait.
- Note when the sound began, which ear it is in, whether it is constant or pulsing, and whether your hearing seems different.
- Book an assessment, and ask for it to be seen the same day if the onset was sudden or you notice any hearing change.
- Keep away from loud noise, and do not push cotton buds or other objects into the ear.
- Bring a list of every medicine and supplement you take, since some affect hearing.
- Leave the folklore until after you have been seen.
The oldest recorded belief: absent people talking
The saying that your ears ring or burn when someone is speaking of you is very old. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder set down a version in his Natural History in the first century, noting that absent people were thought to be felt through ringing ears. He did not name a side. The left and right split appears in later English sayings, which we have not traced to one source.
Versions of the saying are still passed along in families. University folklore archives hold entries in which a parent tells a child that ringing ears mean someone is talking about them or thinking of them. It is a gentle bit of folk talk, and in most households it is said with a smile.
Left versus right depends on who you ask
The sides are where the accounts part company, and the difference is a useful reminder that these are conventions rather than readings.
- Later English sayings: one ear for praise and the other for blame, with the sides swapped from family to family. Pliny names no side.
- One family account in a folklore archive: left ear for kind thoughts, right ear for the opposite.
- An Italian informant in the same archive: right ear for kind words, left ear for unkind ones, the reverse of the family account above.
- Many accounts name no side at all and say only that someone is thinking of you.
A counting game from Italian folk practice
The same Italian account describes a small ritual that works as a parlour game. When the ringing starts, a bystander names a number from one to twenty-one, and the number is matched to a letter of the Italian alphabet. The letter is said to be the initial of the person who is talking about you.
Treat it as a pastime. A game that returns an initial will always produce a name you can match to someone you know, which is exactly why it feels convincing and why it cannot be checked.
Modern spiritual readings
More recent spiritual writing links ear ringing to contact with guides or angels, to changes in energy, or to a message arriving. These are twentieth and twenty-first century interpretations, and we could not trace them to an older tradition. People who use the word clairaudience for hearing without a physical source describe the experience in similar terms, and our page on clairaudience sets out what is and is not established.
One caution matters here. Explaining a physical symptom as a spiritual message can delay the check that the first section asks for. The spiritual reading can wait; the examination should not.
Ordinary causes a doctor will look at
A clinician will usually begin with the plain explanations, which is another reason to go.
- Earwax blocking the canal
- Exposure to loud sound, at a concert, at work or through headphones
- An ear infection, or fluid behind the eardrum after a cold
- Hearing loss, which often brings ringing with it
- Certain medicines
- Jaw, neck or circulation problems that make a sound the ear picks up
Talking it through, after the check
No reader can tell you what a ringing ear means, find its cause or promise it will pass. Once a doctor has looked at it, and if you would like to talk through the beliefs you grew up with or whatever is on your mind, a FateArc reader who offers spiritual guidance is there to listen without judging. The medical question belongs with a doctor.
Frequently asked questions
Is ringing in the left ear a spiritual sign?
Some folk and spiritual traditions read it that way, but none of those readings has been demonstrated. Because ringing in one ear can have a medical cause that needs treatment, it should be checked by a doctor before any other explanation is considered.
How fast should I see someone about sudden ringing in one ear?
Treat sudden or one-sided ringing as urgent and contact a doctor or urgent care promptly, the same day if you can. If it comes with sudden hearing loss, dizziness or facial weakness, use your emergency number.
Does the right ear mean the opposite of the left?
In some folk accounts the two ears carry opposite meanings, but accounts disagree about which is which. a family account and an Italian informant's account in a folklore archive give the reverse of each other, so there is no single answer.
Can ear ringing be caused by something simple?
Yes. Earwax, a loud event, a cold, certain medicines and hearing changes are all common causes. A doctor can check for these, and for the less common ones that need treatment, in a short examination.