Are you going mad with that tinnitus in your ears? Find out what causes tinnitus and whether you might have inherited it.
Tinnitus, what exactly is it?
A ringing, buzzing, or droning in the ears with no external cause of the sound is a condition known as tinnitus. The term tinnitus translates to “ringing like a bell.”
How will tinnitus impact my daily living?
Tinnitus can be annoying and can disrupt intimate connections. It’s not a disease in and of itself, but it’s a symptom of other conditions or conditions in your life like hearing loss or damage. You may hear tinnitus in one ear or both ears and it can hinder your ability to concentrate.
Tinnitus is always disruptive regardless of how it’s manifesting. impact your sleep and even trigger anxiety and depression.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be enduring or it can come and go. Lengthy exposure to loud noise, such as a rock concert, is usually the cause of short-term tinnitus. There are a few medical conditions that tend to go hand-in-hand with tinnitus.
Here are several conditions that typically go along with tinnitus:
- Head or neck injuries
- Anxiety or depression
- Age-related hearing impairment
- Meniere’s Disease
- Various medications
- Bruxism, more commonly known as teeth grinding caused by temporomandibular joint issues, or TMJ disorder
- Extended exposure to loud sound
- Inner ear infections
- Excessive earwax build-up
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the delicate hairs used to conduct sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor grows on the cranial nerve going from the inner ear to the brain
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
Is it possible that my parents could have passed down the ringing in my ears?
Tinnitus isn’t directly inherited. But the symptoms can be influenced by your genetics. For example, ear bone changes that can lead to tinnitus can be inherited. These changes are caused by irregular bone growth that can be handed down through family lines. Here are a few other conditions you could have inherited that can cause tinnitus:
- Specific diseases
- Predisposition to anxiety or depression
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
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 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.