Are you experiencing ringing in your ears that’s driving you crazy? Discover whether your tinnitus is inherited or what the cause may be.
Tinnitus, what exactly is it?
Tinnitus is the term describing a person’s perception of a ringing, droning, or buzzing in the ear with no external stimulus present to explain this experience. The direct translation of the term tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will tinnitus affect my daily living?
Tinnitus can interrupt personal connections in numerous 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 injury. You may hear tinnitus in one ear or both ears and it can impede your ability to focus.
Regardless of how you’re experiencing tinnitus, it’s always bothersome. Sleep loss, anxiety, and even depression can also be caused by tinnitus symptoms.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be persistent or temporary. Temporary varieties of tinnitus are typically brought on by prolonged exposure to loud noises, such as a rock concert. Tinnitus has been documented to manifest with a few different medical issues.
Here are several situations that typically accompany tinnitus:
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the sensitive hairs used to conduct sound, causing random transmissions of sound to your brain
- Inner ear infections
- Trauma to the neck or head
- Hearing loss related to aging
- Meniere’s Disease
- Extended exposure to loud noise
- Changes in the structure of the ear bone
- Bruxism, more commonly referred to as teeth grinding stemming from temporomandibular joint problems, or TMJ disorder
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor grows on the cranial nerve going from the inner ear to the brain
- Various medications
- Excessive earwax build-up
- Depression or anxiety
Could I have inherited this tinnitus from my parents?
Tinnitus isn’t directly hereditary. But the symptoms can be influenced by your genes. For example, ear bone changes that can result in tinnitus can be passed down. Irregular bone growth can trigger these changes and can be passed down through family genes. Some of the other conditions that can result in ringing in the ear might be inherited from your parents, including:
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Specific diseases
The ringing in your ear is not directly inheritable, but you might 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 really in your best interest to make an appointment with us so we can assess your hearing.