Are you experiencing ringing in your ears that’s driving you mad? Find out what causes tinnitus and whether you may have inherited it.
Tinnitus, what exactly is it?
Tinnitus is the name referring to 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 tinnitus impact my day to day living?
Tinnitus can disrupt personal connections in numerous aggravating ways. It’s not a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other ailments or circumstances in your life such as hearing loss or injury. 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 long lasting or it can come and go. Sustained exposure to loud sound, like a rock concert, is usually 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 could play host to tinnitus include:
- Infection of the inner ear
- Age-related hearing loss
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- Meniere’s Disease
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the fragile hairs used to conduct sound, causing random transmissions of sound to your brain
- Exposure to loud sound for prolonged time periods
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor grows on the cranial nerve running from the inner ear to the brain
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) caused by a TMJ disorder
- Excessive earwax accumulation
- Different medications
- Depression or anxiety
- Head or neck injuries
Could I have inherited this tinnitus from my parents?
In general, tinnitus isn’t an inherited condition. But the symptoms can be affected by your genetics. For example, ear bone changes that can result in tinnitus can be inherited. Irregular bone growth can cause these changes and can be passed down through genes. Here are a few other conditions you may have inherited that can result in tinnitus:
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Specific diseases
- Predisposition to anxiety or depression
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 certainly come in for an evaluation.
