Are you experiencing ringing in your ears that’s driving you mad? Learn whether your tinnitus is inherited or what the cause might 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 stimulus present to explain this experience. The word tinnitus translates to “ringing like a bell.”
How will my everyday living be affected by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be annoying and can interrupt intimate connections. It’s normally an indication that you have damaged hearing or some underlying health condition and not a disease in and of itself. 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. Sleep loss, anxiety, and even depression can also be caused by tinnitus symptoms.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be enduring or it can come and go. Temporary types of tinnitus are usually caused by prolonged exposure to loud noises, such as a rock concert. There are a number of medical issues that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
A few of the circumstances that could play host to tinnitus include:
- Age-related hearing impairment
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the delicate hairs used to conduct sound, causing random transmissions of sound to your brain
- Depression or anxiety
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- Accumulation of excessive earwax
- Bruxism, generally referred to as teeth grinding stemming from temporomandibular joint problems, or TMJ disorder
- Head or neck traumas
- Meniere’s Disease
- Numerous medications
- Prolonged exposure to loud noise
- Infection of the inner ear
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, grows on cranial nerve
Could I have inherited this ringing in my ears from my parents?
Tinnitus isn’t directly hereditary. However, your genes can play a role in this symptom. For instance, ear bone changes that can result in tinnitus can be inherited. Abnormal bone growth can cause these changes and can be passed down through family genes. Here are some other conditions you might have inherited that can result in tinnitus:
- Predisposition to anxiety or depression
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Specific diseases
The ringing in your ear is not directly inheritable, but you may have been genetically susceptible to the disorders that are breeding grounds for tinnitus.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should certainly come in for an evaluation.