Tinnitus > noun Medicine ringing or buzzing in the ears.
-ORIGIN Latin, from tinnire 'to ring, tinkle'.
(Oxford Concise Dictionary.
) The ringing or buzzing you hear in your ears that is referred to as tinnitus is not a disease but rather a symptom of a problem within the auditory system.
Most people who suffer from tinnitus generally describe the sounds they hear as ringing there is however, some that describe it as buzzing, roaring, humming, and even whistling.
The ringing in the ears can be of different levels, starting at very soft and barely noticeable and becomes louder as time goes on to a loud and unbearable level.
The sad part about tinnitus is that there are more than forty million Americans suffering from tinnitus, many at a young age, and half of those suffer needlessly.
The reason I say half of the people, who suffer from tinnitus, suffer needlessly is because if they had taken precautions whenever in a situation where loud noises were present for extended periods, the tinnitus would not have developed until they reached an age where hearing loss occurred naturally.
Exposure to loud noises for extended periods is of course not the only cause of tinnitus but it is one of the leading causes.
Other things that can cause tinnitus are:

• prescription and non prescription medications
• impacted earwax
• otosclerosis (fixation of the tiny stirrup bone in the middle ear)
• Meniere's disease (swelling of a duct in the ear)
• extreme trauma or stress
• degeneration of the small bones in the middle ear (wear and tear)
• Turbulent flow of blood through the blood vessels near the ear (caused by malformed blood vessels or tumors placing pressure on the blood vessels near the ear.
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If you suffer from tinnitus that is so severe you can't live with it then, you should see a doctor to determine the exact cause.
Once you know exactly what is causing it you can begin to look into treatment options.