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 sound is a condition called tinnitus. The direct translation of the term tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will tinnitus impact my daily living?
Tinnitus can be aggravating and can disrupt intimate connections. It’s not a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other conditions or conditions in your life like hearing loss or injury. You might hear tinnitus in one ear or both ears and it can hinder your ability to concentrate.
Tinnitus is always troublesome regardless of how it’s manifesting. impact your sleep and even cause anxiety and depression.
What are the causes of tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be persistent or temporary. Temporary varieties of tinnitus are typically brought on by prolonged exposure to loud sounds, like a rock concert. There are a number of medical conditions that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
Here are a few conditions that generally go along with tinnitus:
- Hearing impairment associated with aging
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor forms on the cranial nerve going from the brain to the inner ear
- Changes in the structure of the ear bone
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the delicate hairs used to conduct sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Trauma to the neck or head
- Infection of the inner ear
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
- Anxiety or depression
- Different medications
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) triggered by a TMJ disorder
- Meniere’s Disease
- Exposure to loud noise for sustained time periods
- Accumulation of excessive earwax
Is it possible that my parents may have passed down the ringing in my ears?
Tinnitus isn’t directly hereditary. However, your genes can play a part 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. A few of the other conditions that can lead to ringing in the ear could be passed down from your parents, including:
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Predisposition to anxiety or depression
- Specific 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 certainly come in for an assessment.