Are you experiencing ringing in your ears that’s driving you crazy? Learn whether your tinnitus is inherited or what the cause may be.
Tinnitus, what exactly is it?
A ringing, buzzing, or droning in the ears with no outside cause of the sound is a condition called tinnitus. The direct translation of the word tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will tinnitus impact my day to day living?
Tinnitus can be aggravating and can interrupt intimate connections. It’s usually an indication that you have damaged hearing or some root health condition and not a disease in and of itself. You might hear tinnitus in one ear or both ears and it can hinder your ability to focus.
Regardless of how you’re experiencing tinnitus, it is always disruptive. influence your sleep and even cause anxiety and depression.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be long lasting or it can come and go. Temporary types of tinnitus are normally caused by extended exposure to loud noises, like a rock concert. Tinnitus has been documented to co-occur with several different medical conditions.
A few of the conditions that may play host to tinnitus include:
- Depression or anxiety
- Trauma to the neck or head
- Different medications
- Inner ear infections
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the sensitive hairs used to conduct sound, causing random transmissions of sound to your brain
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- Buildup of excessive earwax
- Meniere’s Disease
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) related to a TMJ disorder
- Prolonged exposure to loud sound
- Hearing loss related to aging
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, forms on cranial nerve
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
Is it possible that my parents may have passed down the ringing in my ears?
In general, tinnitus isn’t a hereditary condition. But the symptoms can be affected by your genetics. For example, ear bone changes that can lead to tinnitus can be passed down. Abnormal bone growth can trigger these changes and can be passed down through family genes. Here are a few other conditions you may have inherited that can trigger tinnitus:
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Certain diseases
- Predisposition to anxiety or depression
The ringing in your ear is not directly inheritable, but you may have been genetically predisposed to the conditions that are breeding grounds for tinnitus.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should definitely come in for an assessment.