Use hearing protection

Earplugs or other hearing protection often prevents tinnitus that otherwise would be caused by excessive noise. You should always wear hearing protection when subjected to loud noise, even if you do not find the noise uncomfortable. Hearing loss at higher frequencies is often painless, and the most common result is tinnitus.

You should also bear in mind that the damaging effect on the hair cells in the inner ear is accumulated over time. After constant exposure to excessive noise, it takes less to develop tinnitus or hearing loss.

Even a single incident of exposure to an extremely loud noise, such as fireworks or other explosions or a gun shot fired close to the ear can trigger hearing loss or tinnitus.