Are you going mad 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 outside cause of the sound is a condition called tinnitus. The direct translation of the term tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will tinnitus impact my everyday living?
Tinnitus can be aggravating and can interrupt intimate connections. It’s not a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other ailments or circumstances in your life including hearing loss or damage. You may hear tinnitus in one ear or both ears and it can hinder your ability to focus.
Regardless of the way in which you’re experiencing tinnitus, it is always disruptive. influence your sleep and even trigger anxiety and depression.
What are the causes of tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be long lasting or it can come and go. Sustained exposure to loud noise, like a rock concert, is normally the cause of short-term tinnitus. There are a number of medical issues that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
Here are several conditions that generally go along with tinnitus:
- Inner ear infections
- Depression or anxiety
- Head or neck injuries
- Bruxism, more commonly referred to as teeth grinding caused by temporomandibular joint problems, or TMJ disorder
- Excessive earwax accumulation
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the delicate hairs used to conduct sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- The ear bone has undergone changes
- Hearing impairment related to aging
- Meniere’s Disease
- Prolonged exposure to loud noise
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor grows on the cranial nerve running from the inner ear to the brain
- Numerous medications
Could I have inherited this ringing in my ears from my parents?
Tinnitus isn’t directly inherited. However, your genetics can play a role in this symptom. You can, as an example, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. Irregular bone growth can cause these changes and can be handed down through genes. Some of the other conditions that can result in ringing in the ear may be inherited from your parents, including:
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Certain diseases
The ringing in your ear is not directly inheritable, but you might have been genetically susceptible to the disorders that are breeding grounds for tinnitus.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should certainly come in for an assessment.
