My ears are ringing, but not because someone is talking about me

Within days of a friend of mine telling me he had severe tinnitus from an illness several years ago, I awoke from an evening after a concert with ringing in my left ear.  At first I thought it was some kind of sympathy tinnitus.  I couldn't really have it, could I?  I tested it by sitting in silence, by plugging my ears, by tuning out, by tuning in... Yup.  It's there.  

I brushed up on my knowledge of tinnitus which is a ringing or buzzing sound in one or both ears.  It can be from an illness or from exposure to loud sounds.  It can be temporary or permanent.  The damage to the ear is always permanent.  Maybe it can't easily be prevented if caused by an illness, but we can often control the safety of our hearing when around loud noises.  A website from the American Tinnitus Association has easy to comprehend information about knowing when loud is too loud.  Read it.  Having healthy ears isn't something we always think about, but something we would certainly miss.