Are you going crazy with that tinnitus in your ears? Discover whether your tinnitus is inherited or what the cause may be.
What is tinnitus?
A ringing, buzzing, or droning in the ears with no external cause of the sound is a condition called tinnitus. The word tinnitus translates to “ringing like a bell.”
How will tinnitus impact my day to day living?
Tinnitus can be annoying and can disrupt intimate interactions. It’s not a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other conditions or conditions in your life such as hearing loss or damage. Your ability to stay focused can be seriously disrupted when you begin to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Regardless of the way in which you’re experiencing tinnitus, it’s always bothersome. impact your sleep and even cause anxiety and depression.
What are the causes of tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be persistent or temporary. Short term varieties of tinnitus are usually triggered by prolonged exposure to loud sounds, like a rock concert. Tinnitus has been documented to co-occur with several different medical conditions.
Here are several conditions that typically accompany tinnitus:
- Inner ear infections
- Age-related hearing impairment
- Numerous medications
- Depression or anxiety
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor grows on the cranial nerve running from the inner ear to the brain
- Excessive earwax build-up
- Meniere’s Disease
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- Trauma to the neck or head
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
- Extended exposure to loud noise
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) caused by a TMJ disorder
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the fragile hairs used to conduct sound, causing random transmissions of sound to your brain
Could I have inherited this ringing in my ears from my parents?
In general, tinnitus isn’t a hereditary condition. However, your genes can play a role in this symptom. You can, for instance, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. These changes are caused by irregular bone growth that can be passed down through family lines. Here are some other conditions you may have inherited that can cause tinnitus:
- Specific diseases
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
You can’t directly inherit tinnitus, but there are disorders that become breeding grounds for tinnitus which you could have inherited.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should certainly come in for an assessment.