Are you going crazy with that tinnitus in your ears? Find out what causes tinnitus and whether you could have inherited it.
What is tinnitus?
Tinnitus is the name describing a person’s perception of a ringing, droning, or buzzing in the ear with no external noises present to explain this experience. The direct translation of the term tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will my day-to-day living be affected by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can disrupt personal connections in numerous annoying ways. It’s normally a sign that you have damaged hearing or some underlying health condition and not a disease in and of itself. You may hear tinnitus in one ear or both ears and it can impede your ability to focus.
Regardless of the way in which you’re experiencing tinnitus, it’s always disruptive. Sleep loss, anxiety, and even depression can also be triggered by tinnitus symptoms.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be constant or temporary. Sustained exposure to loud sound, like a rock concert, is usually the cause of short-term tinnitus. 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:
- Meniere’s Disease
- Bruxism, generally known as teeth grinding caused by temporomandibular joint problems, or TMJ disorder
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, grows on cranial nerve
- Various medications
- Depression or anxiety
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the fragile hairs used to conduct sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Age-related hearing impairment
- Exposure to loud sound for sustained periods of time
- Head or neck injuries
- Inner ear infections
- Excessive earwax accumulation
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
Is it possible that my parents could have passed down the ringing in my ears?
Generally, tinnitus isn’t a hereditary condition. However, your genetics can play a role in this condition. You can, as an example, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. Irregular bone growth can trigger these changes and can be handed down through genes. Here are a few other conditions you could have inherited that can trigger tinnitus:
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Certain diseases
You can’t directly inherit tinnitus, but there are conditions that become breeding grounds for tinnitus which you might have inherited.
If you have a history of tinnitus in your family, it’s really in your best interest to schedule an appointment with us so we can assess your hearing.
