Do you have ringing in your ears that’s driving you crazy? 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 known as tinnitus. The direct translation of the word tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will my day-to-day living be impacted by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can interrupt personal connections in many annoying ways. It’s not a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other ailments 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 troublesome regardless of how it’s manifesting. impact your sleep and even trigger anxiety and depression.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be long lasting or it can come and go. Sustained exposure to loud noise, like a rock concert, is usually the cause of temporary tinnitus. Tinnitus has been documented to co-occur with a few different medical conditions.
Here are a few situations that typically go along with tinnitus:
- Bruxism, generally known as teeth grinding stemming from temporomandibular joint issues, or TMJ disorder
- Meniere’s Disease
- Depression or anxiety
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the fragile hairs used to conduct sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Infection of the inner ear
- Accumulation of excessive earwax
- Head or neck injuries
- Hearing impairment associated with aging
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, forms on cranial nerve
- Different medications
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- Prolonged exposure to loud noise
- The ear bone has undergone changes
Could I have inherited this ringing in my ears from my parents?
Tinnitus isn’t directly inherited. However, your genes can play a role in this symptom. You can, as an example, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. Abnormal bone growth can cause these changes and can be passed down through genetics. Some of the other conditions that can cause ringing in the ear may be inherited from your parents, including:
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Certain diseases
You can’t directly inherit tinnitus, but there are conditions that become breeding grounds for tinnitus which you may have inherited.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should certainly come in for an assessment.