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?
Tinnitus is the name 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 word tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will my daily living be affected by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be annoying and can disrupt intimate connections. It’s normally an indication that you have damaged hearing or some underlying health condition and not a disease in and of itself. Your concentration can be significantly interrupted when you start to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Tinnitus is always disruptive regardless of how it’s manifesting. impact your sleep and even trigger anxiety and depression.
What are the causes of tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be constant or temporary. Lengthy exposure to loud noise, such as 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.
A few of the circumstances that might play host to tinnitus include:
- Meniere’s Disease
- Bruxism, more commonly referred to as teeth grinding stemming from temporomandibular joint problems, or TMJ disorder
- Depression or anxiety
- Hearing impairment related to aging
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the fragile hairs used to transport sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Exposure to loud sound for prolonged time periods
- Numerous medications
- Injuries to the neck or head
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- Infection of the inner ear
- Excessive earwax build-up
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- Acoustic neuroma where a benign tumor grows on the cranial nerve going from the inner ear to the brain
Is it possible that my parents may have passed down the ringing in my ears?
In general, tinnitus isn’t an inherited condition. However, your genetics can play a role in this condition. For example, ear bone changes that can result in tinnitus can be inherited. These changes are a consequence of abnormal bone growth that can be handed down through family lines. Here are a few other conditions you might have inherited that can result in tinnitus:
- Specific diseases
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
You can’t directly inherit tinnitus, but there are conditions that become breeding grounds for tinnitus which you may have inherited.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should certainly come in for an assessment.
