Do you have ringing in your ears that’s driving you crazy? Find out what causes tinnitus and whether you might have inherited it.
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 day to day living?
Tinnitus can be aggravating and can interrupt intimate interactions. It’s usually an indication that you have damaged hearing or some underlying health condition and not a disease in and of itself. Your ability to stay focused can be seriously disrupted when you start to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Tinnitus is always troublesome regardless of how it’s manifesting. influence your sleep and even trigger anxiety and depression.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be enduring or it can come and go. Temporary types of tinnitus are normally caused by extended exposure to loud sounds, such as a rock concert. There are a number of medical issues that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
Here are a few situations that typically accompany tinnitus:
- Exposure to loud sound for prolonged periods of time
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, grows on cranial nerve
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) caused by a TMJ disorder
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
- Excessive earwax accumulation
- Head or neck injuries
- Several medications
- The ear bone has undergone changes
- Inner ear infections
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the delicate hairs used to transport sound, causing random transmissions of sound to your brain
- Depression or anxiety
- Age-related hearing impairment
- Meniere’s Disease
Could I have inherited this tinnitus from my parents?
Generally, tinnitus isn’t an inherited condition. However, your genetics can play a part in this symptom. You can, for instance, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. These changes are related to abnormal bone growth that can be passed down through family lines. Some of the other conditions that can produce ringing in the ear may be passed down from your parents, including:
- Predisposition to anxiety or depression
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Certain diseases
The ringing in your ear is not directly inheritable, but you might have been genetically susceptible to the disorders that are breeding grounds for tinnitus.
If you have a history of tinnitus in your family, it’s truly in your best interest to make an appointment with us so we can evaluate your hearing.