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 external cause of the noise is a condition known as tinnitus. The direct translation of the term tinnitus is “ringing like a bell”.
How will my daily living be affected by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can disrupt personal connections in numerous aggravating ways. It’s normally an indication that you have damaged hearing or some root health condition and not a disease in and of itself. Your concentration can be significantly interrupted when you start to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Tinnitus is always disruptive regardless of how it’s manifesting. Sleep loss, anxiety, and even depression can also be triggered by tinnitus symptoms.
What are the causes of tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be enduring or it can come and go. Temporary types of tinnitus are normally caused by extended exposure to loud noises, such as a rock concert. There are a few medical issues that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
Here are several situations that typically go along with tinnitus:
- Injuries to the neck or head
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, forms on cranial nerve
- Exposure to loud sound for prolonged time periods
- Anxiety or depression
- Numerous medications
- Bruxism, generally referred to as teeth grinding, caused by temporomandibular joint problems, or TMJ disorder
- Inner ear infections
- Meniere’s Disease
- Excessive earwax accumulation
- Age-related hearing loss
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- The ear bone has undergone changes
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the delicate hairs used to transport sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
Could I have inherited this tinnitus from my parents?
Generally, tinnitus isn’t a hereditary condition. But the symptoms can be influenced by your genes. For example, ear bone changes that can lead to tinnitus can be inherited. Abnormal bone growth can cause these changes and can be handed down through family genes. Here are some other conditions you might have inherited that can cause tinnitus:
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Certain diseases
You can’t directly inherit tinnitus, but there are conditions that become breeding grounds for tinnitus which you could have inherited.
If you have a history of tinnitus in your family, it’s truly in your best interest to make an appointment with us so we can evaluate your hearing.