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?
A ringing, buzzing, or droning in the ears with no external cause of the sound is a condition known as tinnitus. The term tinnitus translates to “ringing like a bell.”
How will tinnitus impact my daily living?
Tinnitus can be annoying and can disrupt intimate connections. It isn’t a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other ailments or conditions in your life such as hearing loss or damage. Your concentration can be seriously interrupted when you begin to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Tinnitus is always disruptive regardless of how it’s manifesting. Sleep loss, anxiety, and even depression can also be triggered by tinnitus symptoms.
What are the causes of tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be constant or temporary. Sustained exposure to loud noise, like a rock concert, is typically the cause of temporary tinnitus. There are a number of medical issues that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
A few of the circumstances that might play host to tinnitus include:
- Anxiety or depression
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- Meniere’s Disease
- Infection of the inner ear
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, forms on cranial nerve
- Excessive earwax accumulation
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the fragile hairs used to conduct sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Various medications
- Bruxism, generally known as teeth grinding caused by temporomandibular joint issues, or TMJ disorder
- Head or neck traumas
- Hearing loss associated with aging
- Sustained exposure to loud noise
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
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 role in this symptom. For instance, ear bone changes that can lead to tinnitus can be passed down. Irregular bone growth can trigger these changes and can be handed down through family genes. Here are a few other conditions you could have inherited that can cause tinnitus:
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Certain diseases
The ringing in your ear isn’t 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 definitely come in for an assessment.
