What Causes Ear Pain Followed By A Ringing Sound?

I have been up all night with a sore ear, at one point of the night i went deaf in the ear then i had a ringing sound for hours. The pain was so unbearable i rang the emergency doctor who by the way was no help at all! I took Co-Codamol to relieve the pain and at the moment it isn't as bad but still hurts, what is up with it?