Are you going mad with that tinnitus in your ears? Learn 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 noise is a condition known as tinnitus. The direct translation of the word tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will tinnitus impact my day to day living?
Tinnitus can be aggravating and can disrupt intimate connections. It’s not a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other conditions or conditions in your life including hearing loss or damage. You might hear tinnitus in one ear or both ears and it can impede your ability to concentrate.
Tinnitus is always disruptive regardless of how it’s manifesting. Sleep loss, anxiety, and even depression can also be caused by tinnitus symptoms.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be long lasting or it can come and go. Lengthy exposure to loud noise, like a rock concert, is normally the cause of temporary tinnitus. There are a number of medical conditions that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
Here are a few conditions that typically accompany tinnitus:
- Infection of the inner ear
- Prolonged exposure to loud noise
- Hearing impairment associated with aging
- Different medications
- The ear bone has changed
- Accumulation of excessive earwax
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) caused by a TMJ disorder
- Anxiety or depression
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, grows on cranial nerve
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
- Meniere’s Disease
- Head or neck injuries
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the fragile hairs used to transport sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
Could I have inherited this ringing in my ears from my parents?
Tinnitus isn’t directly hereditary. But the symptoms can be affected by your genes. For instance, ear bone changes that can lead to tinnitus can be inherited. Abnormal bone growth can trigger these changes and can be handed down through genetics. Some of the other conditions that can produce ringing in the ear may be passed down from your parents, including:
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Specific diseases
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
You can’t directly inherit tinnitus, but there are conditions that become breeding grounds for tinnitus which you might have inherited.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should certainly come in for an evaluation.