Are you going crazy with that tinnitus in your ears? Find out what causes tinnitus and whether you might have inherited it.
What is tinnitus?
A ringing, buzzing, or droning in the ears with no external cause of the sound is a condition known as tinnitus. The word tinnitus translates to “ringing like a bell.”
How will my day-to-day living be impacted by tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be frustrating and can disrupt intimate interactions. It’s usually an indication that you have damaged hearing or some underlying health condition and not a disease in and of itself. You might hear tinnitus in one ear or both ears and it can hinder your ability to focus.
Tinnitus is always disruptive regardless of how it’s manifesting. influence your sleep and even cause anxiety and depression.
What are the causes of tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be long lasting or it can come and go. Short term varieties of tinnitus are normally brought on by prolonged exposure to loud sounds, such as a rock concert. Tinnitus has been known to manifest with several different medical conditions.
A few of the conditions that might play host to tinnitus include:
- Various medications
- Age-related hearing impairment
- Changes in the composition of the ear bone
- A benign tumor, called acoustic neuroma, grows on cranial nerve
- Anxiety or depression
- Sustained exposure to loud noise
- Inner ear cell damage and irritation of the delicate hairs used to transport sound, causing arbitrary transmissions of sound to your brain
- Excessive earwax build-up
- Inner ear infections
- Injuries that affect nerves of the ear
- Teeth grinding (bruxism) caused by a TMJ disorder
- Head or neck injuries
- Meniere’s Disease
Could I have inherited this tinnitus from my parents?
Tinnitus isn’t directly hereditary. However, your genes can play a part in this condition. You can, for instance, inherit a tendency for your ear bone to change. These changes are caused by abnormal bone growth that can be passed down through family lines. Here are some other conditions you could have inherited that can result in tinnitus:
- Certain diseases
- Being predisposed to depression or anxiety
- Being prone to inner ear infections or wax build-up
You can’t directly inherit tinnitus, but there are disorders 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 evaluation.
