Do you have ringing in your ears that’s driving you mad? Discover whether your tinnitus is inherited or what the cause might be.
Tinnitus, what exactly is it?
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 term tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will tinnitus affect my day to day living?
Tinnitus can interrupt personal connections in numerous annoying ways. It’s usually a sign that you have damaged hearing or some root health condition and not a disease in and of itself. Your ability to stay focused can be seriously disrupted when you start to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Tinnitus is always troublesome regardless of how it’s manifesting. Sleep loss, anxiety, and even depression can also be caused by tinnitus symptoms.
What are the causes of tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be long lasting or it can come and go. Temporary varieties of tinnitus are usually triggered by prolonged exposure to loud sounds, like a rock concert. There are a number of medical issues that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
A few of the conditions that could play host to tinnitus include:
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) related to a TMJ disorder
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
- Meniere’s Disease
- Depression or anxiety
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor forms on the cranial nerve running from the brain to the inner ear
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the sensitive hairs used to conduct sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Prolonged exposure to loud sound
- Head or neck injuries
- Different medications
- Age-related hearing loss
- Excessive earwax build-up
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- Inner ear infections
Is it possible that my parents may have passed down the ringing in my ears?
Tinnitus isn’t directly inherited. However, your genetics can play a role in this condition. For example, ear bone changes that can lead to tinnitus can be inherited. These changes are a consequence of abnormal bone growth that can be passed down through family lines. 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
You can’t directly inherit tinnitus, but there are disorders that become breeding grounds for tinnitus which you might have inherited.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should definitely come in for an assessment.
