Are you going mad with that tinnitus in your ears? Discover whether your tinnitus is inherited or what the cause may be.
Tinnitus, what exactly is it?
Tinnitus is the term describing a person’s perception of a ringing, droning, or buzzing in the ear with no external noises present to explain this sensation. The word tinnitus translates to “ringing like a bell.”
How will my day-to-day living be impacted by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can disrupt personal connections in several frustrating ways. 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 concentration can be seriously interrupted when you start to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Regardless of how you’re experiencing tinnitus, it’s always disruptive. impact your sleep and even trigger anxiety and depression.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be constant or temporary. Sustained exposure to loud noise, such as a rock concert, is usually the cause of temporary tinnitus. Tinnitus has been documented to manifest with several different medical issues.
A few of the conditions that may play host to tinnitus include:
- Anxiety or depression
- Hearing impairment related to aging
- Trauma to the neck or head
- Buildup of excessive earwax
- The ear bone has changed
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor grows on the cranial nerve running from the brain to the inner ear
- Meniere’s Disease
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the fragile hairs used to transport sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Bruxism, generally referred to as teeth grinding stemming from temporomandibular joint issues, or TMJ disorder
- Infection of the inner ear
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- Exposure to loud noise for prolonged periods of time
- Various medications
Could I have inherited this ringing in my ears from my parents?
Tinnitus isn’t directly hereditary. However, your genetics can play a role in this symptom. You can, for instance, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. Abnormal bone growth can trigger these changes and can be handed down through genes. A few of the other conditions that can result in ringing in the ear may be inherited from your parents, including:
- Specific diseases
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
The ringing in your ear isn’t directly inheritable, but you may have been genetically susceptible to the conditions that are breeding grounds for tinnitus.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should certainly come in for an assessment.
