Do you have ringing in your ears that’s driving you crazy? Find out what causes tinnitus and whether you could have inherited it.
Tinnitus, what exactly is it?
A ringing, buzzing, or droning in the ears with no outside cause of the sound is a condition called tinnitus. The direct translation of the word tinnitus is”ringing like a bell”.”
How will my day-to-day living be impacted by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be annoying and can disrupt intimate connections. It’s normally a sign that you have damaged hearing or some root health condition and not a disease in and of itself. Your ability to stay focused can be significantly interrupted when you begin to hear tinnitus in one or both ears.
Tinnitus is always troublesome regardless of how it’s manifesting. influence your sleep and even cause anxiety and depression.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be enduring or it can come and go. Temporary varieties of tinnitus are usually brought on by prolonged exposure to loud sounds, like a rock concert. Tinnitus has been documented to co-occur with a few different medical conditions.
A few of the circumstances that might play host to tinnitus include:
- The ear bone has undergone changes
- 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 forms on the cranial nerve running from the inner ear to the brain
- Hearing impairment related to aging
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) related to a TMJ disorder
- Infection of the inner ear
- Various medications
- Excessive earwax build-up
- Anxiety or depression
- Head or neck traumas
- Injuries that impact nerves of the ear
- Exposure to loud sound for prolonged time periods
- Meniere’s Disease
Is it possible that my parents may have passed down the ringing in my ears?
Generally, tinnitus isn’t an inherited condition. But the symptoms can be influenced by your genetics. You can, as an example, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. These changes are a consequence of irregular bone growth that can be passed down through family lines. Here are a few other conditions you may have inherited that can result in tinnitus:
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
- Certain diseases
The ringing in your ear isn’t directly inheritable, but you might have been genetically susceptible to the disorders that are breeding grounds for tinnitus.
If your family has a history of tinnitus, you should certainly come in for an assessment.