Ringing. Buzzing. Sizzling. Those are some of the most common ways people describe the noise in their ears that only they can hear, medically known as tinnitus. Though men are more likely to experience this phantom noise phenomenon, it becomes more common among women with age (hello, menopause) and women are more likely to report it as bothersome.

To be clear, tinnitus is still a bit of a medical mystery, and tons of stuff can cause it including noise exposure (those ear-ringing nights on the dance floor, maybe not such a great idea), hearing loss (see also those ear-ringing nights, and also just age), medications, and ear canal blockages. So, get it checked out with your doctor to rule out underlying issues that need to be addressed.

It won’t surprise anyone here, that it’s also associated with menopause. Estrogen plays a role in your auditory system and though researchers are still teasing it out, women with irregular menstrual cycles are more likely to have tinnitus, and lower estrogen levels in postmenopausal make women more likely to have hearing loss, which is associated with tinnitus. As to whether hormone therapy (HT) helps, research has gone both ways, with some studies finding that HT helps decrease the risk of tinnitus while other research has found an association between long-term HT use and increased risk of hearing loss, which again is a risk factor for tinnitus.

Best to work with an otolaryngologist, who can help treat and manage hearing loss and bothersome tinnitus. Also, hearing damage is cumulative, so even if you joyfully danced by the speaker system in your 30s, you could still protect your ears by using hearing protection during loud events from here on out.