Do you have ringing in your ears that’s driving you mad? Learn whether your tinnitus is inherited or what the cause might be.
What is tinnitus?
A ringing, buzzing, or droning in the ears with no external cause of the noise is a condition known as tinnitus. The direct translation of the term tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will my daily living be affected by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can disrupt personal connections in several aggravating ways. It isn’t a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other conditions or conditions in your life including hearing loss or damage. Your concentration can be seriously interrupted when you begin to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Regardless of the way in which you’re experiencing tinnitus, it’s always disruptive. Tinnitus can affect your sleep and even trigger anxiety and depression.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be persistent or temporary. Lengthy exposure to loud sound, such as a rock concert, is normally the cause of short-term tinnitus. There are a few medical issues that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
A few of the circumstances that might play host to tinnitus include:
- Depression or anxiety
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- Excessive earwax accumulation
- Meniere’s Disease
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) related to a TMJ disorder
- Hearing impairment related to aging
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- Inner ear infections
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, grows on cranial nerve
- Head or neck traumas
- Various medications
- Exposure to loud sound for extended time periods
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the sensitive hairs used to transport sound, causing random transmissions of sound to your brain
Could I have inherited this ringing in my ears from my parents?
Tinnitus isn’t directly inherited. But the symptoms can be influenced by your genes. You can, as an example, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. Irregular bone growth can trigger these changes and can be passed down through family genes. Some of the other conditions that can cause ringing in the ear may be inherited from your parents, including:
- Specific diseases
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
The ringing in your ear is not directly inheritable, but you may have been genetically susceptible to the conditions that are breeding grounds for tinnitus.
If you have a history of tinnitus in your family, it’s truly in your best interest to schedule an appointment with us so we can evaluate your hearing.
