Do You Have a Family Member or Relative Who's Also Got Tinnitus?

It's been asked whether tinnitus might have a genetic component to it.

The poll is anonymous, but feel most welcome to comment on your answer below.

(Credit goes to our member Emma for this poll, thanks!)

 

Thanks Emma for the question and poll. Interesting!

 

my brother has mild tinnitus and my dad got tinnitus after chemo therapy (cisplatin)

 

Wow... interesting.

My sister is taking chemo for her terminal cancer and I sure hope she doesn't get T on top of all the pain she experiences! Yikes!

How is your dad?

 

My wife has mild case of the T because of the meds she is on. She describes it as crickets. Never knew she had it until I got mine and went ballistic. I also know about six acquaintances who have it and never mentioned it until I went around looking for sympathy. They would say, oh yeah, I got that too! How bad? Don't know except I know a lady that has had severe T for 48 years and is deaf. (another category for the poll?)

 

My husband has tinnitus since he was a kid with no hearing lost.

 

Hi only new here just posted my 'hello' post I have to be honest probably mild T conpared to what Im reading - but after talking to my Dad he now tells me he has it as did my Grandad - they put theirs down to working on a farm - loud machines / tractors over many years but never really did anything about it - I a yet to see an ENT doc and I have no reason yet why I have this mild T I get a high pitched tone in quiet rooms - I dont here it in everyday life - night-time is when I noticed it and have problems. Can it be something that is a family gene - I have 2 teenage daughters and would like to help them prevent it as best they can protecting their hearing now - in the teenage years - music festivals beckon ! Any thoughts pls ? much love - Cher

 

I would seriously doubt it is hereditary as I'm the only one in my entire family on both sides across all generations that has Tinnitus!

 

My dad has T...he had it 40-45 years ago. I told my son to take care of his hearing...just in case it is hereditary.

 

Thanks for replies - after I see the ENT doc I think I will sit the girls down and talk to them about protecting their hearing it can only help and do no harm. At least they will have knowledge now to look after their hearing I don't know why I've got it no loud noises to blame - but I have been under a lot of stress for about a year and TBH prob first started noticing my buzz/tone 6 months ago. Was amazed to find my Dad has it - he never mentioned it so he has coped with it and never talked about it - Im going to read this site with interest this weekend now work is done - looking forward to getting advice from others, the questions that keep popping into my head Im sure are ones everyone on here has asked themselves. Right now its dog walking time and the sun is out in the UK - much love Cher

 

My Mum had minieares disease as well has hyperaccusis and now I have tinnitus and hyperaccusis. Both my folks wear hearing aides as well. I'm pretty sure you can be susceptibleto hearing issues just like bad eyesight can run in the family...

 

I don't think the tinnitus itself is hereditary, but the "quality" of our ears must be. Some of us have "glass ears" and get tinnitus more easily, while others (the lucky bastards ) have ears made of concrete.

 

This past week I was reading thru some threads and read a member felt that this was genetically passed on. An other member stated that this has never been proven to be true, who's right?I can't remember where the threads are that I read...I'm currently reading a book recommended by our member Jazz, The book is by J.L. Mayes, MSc, Aud (C), the book is called Tinnitus Treatment Toolbox, and on page 37 2nd line from the top, she states and I quote " In some people, it has been suggested tinnitus is related to stress or even genetic predisposition. " This comes from someone who is a professional aud dr. In my own family I've recently discovered that I'm not the first one in my family to have been inflected with tinnitus, my 47 year old sister has had T for seven years and I finally found this out at a family function, she has been taking the med ZOLOFT for years now to keep herself quiet, my own mother who's 80 has according to her been hearing ringing for many years, this all came to light while I was describing my noise to other family members.

My sister never told anyone that for fear people would of thought her crazy? She didn't even know that it had a name. My mother just never told anyone for no reason at all and once again I had to explain it to her what it was, she says its always been mild but a constant ringing for years and years. So to the member who stated that there was no significant proof of this being genetic, they may be the first link in the family chain. Personally I don't know if it's genetic or not but 3 members of my family have it now. So if anyone has any other documented proof of otherwise it is or isn't that would be an interesting conversation.

I'm not sure where I should have posted this so if you have to move it go ahead.

 

I don't personally believe Tinnitus can be genetically passed on and as of 2013 I'm not aware of any scientific evidence to support that claim. It certainly isn't true in my family at least.

However I would lean towards what Sven said in that perhaps people's ears whether weak or strong might be passed on thus increasing or decreasing their chances of ear problems in life. With the exception of reading glasses for my 80 year old+ grandparents no-one wears glasses in my family nor do any of my cousins or distant relatives so maybe there is a genetic case for eye health perhaps.

Unfortunately for me ear health is in fact very good in my family line apart from me! Even my grandma has better hearing then me and no Tinnitus. Both of my parents and all my brothers and sisters have perfect hearing according to their last hearing tests. This has also been the case for several other Tinnitus sufferers I have met over the years. I would personally lean toward environmental factors as the most significant causes of Tinnitus rather then genetics at this time.

 

Erik is right here Tinnitus is alot more common then people realize. You could make an argument for lower back pain being genetic if you have it and your parents have it etc. Just because someone in your family has the same thing doesn't mean it's genetic. Dr Stuart Mcgill the who is considered to be one of the world's leading specialists in spine bio mechanics argues that optimum back health comes from how you treat your spine rather then what's in your genes. Although again it's possible that some people can inherit more flexible spines then others especially if they are hypermobile then statistically speaking people with increased mobility in their low backs are more likely to experience back problems. Doesn't mean the back pain is in their genes though.

 

Nobody in my family has ever had T as far as I know. I asked my mother and she was pretty certain that nobody on either side has ever had it.

I do believe that some of us do have more susceptibility though - and if we have it and something else happens... bang... we have T.

 

Ok I'll go with that, I was quoting a response from a book I'm currently reading and was responding to I'd say your view on T not being genetically passed on.....really I don't know... and Erik is right, now that I've developed Tinnitus I've found out that tinnitus is much more prevalent in people than I ever I could have thought. And Markku posted that there has been no proof of T being genetically inherited.

Thanks for your reply I found it quite interesting!

Danny

 

No probs Danny! Happy to help!

 

Hi guys, do you know anyone around you that has tinnitus? How do they cope?

My brother has had tinnitus since he was a kid, he's in his late teens now. He is completely unaffected by it, doesn't bother him in the slightest, he said if he focuses on it he can hear it over the TV. He doesn't get why I am so affected by it, reading tinnitus forums everyday etc. He isn't even careful around loud noises, he said because he is so used to ignoring it he doesn't care if it gets louder, he said he can hear buzzing, whooshing, whistling noises but he doesn't suffer from it, this is where I want to get oneday.

Do you know anyone who has tinnitus?

 

My grandpa have tinnitus in right ear, just like me. After working in construction in 40+ years. They did not use hearing protection in the old days. He believe he got it from the loud noises. He says that it is piercing loud. However, he is old and don't work anymore. I don't think he gives a shit about it anymore. I have told him that he can get speakerpillow, maskers and stuff for free by the healthcare, but he says it is not important.

My grandma also have tinnitus. But she is a hypochondriac. She have tried all the deseases in the dictionary. It's always something with her.

I have some friends and colleges with tinnitus to. But no-one is bothered by it. Some louder then others.

 

My stepfather has T in 1 ear since his early 20's...never seems to be affected by it. Why I can't seem to accept and forget about it is beyond me. I focus way too much on my health so maybe that's the problem.

 

Mick - do you think your brother t volume is low ?or it's loud and some how has learned to ignore it ?
My grandma had it and I knew she wold complain once in a while .
Your volume is as loud as before and you feel you can ignore it ?or you think volume has gone down little ?

 

Woudn't it be nice to be able to ignore it like that? It seems most everyone I know says they 'hear' it if they listen for it. My folks have it.

 

I created this thread because it gives us hope that in the future we will recover from this, so many people have it but they don't care, my brother said when he goes to bed at night his head is piercingly loud, but he ignores it, no reaction to it. To him its just noise, so most of the time he doesnt even notice it. I was freaking out when my tinnitus spiked, let my self adjust, now my tinnitus is louder with different tones, but I feel just the same as I did when I had mild tinnitus, its just now I'm obsessing about loud noises, but I hope in the future I can stop obsessing and have a normal life.

 

Also to remember all we read here is people struggling with tinnitus, the majority of people with tinnitus don't read tinnitus forums, the ones who are habituated. We read a lot of negative stories on the internet, just remember we are the minority, other wise there would be tens of thousands of members here, I take great comfort from that.

 

The only friend I knew that had it died a few years ago (from a heart condition). So now I don't really know anyone that I can talk to in real life about tinnitus, really makes you feel all special that other people I know can wreck their ears all day long in clubs and loud events and I'm the only one that got this special gift of noise that has taken away my will to live.

 

I am sort of lucky in a way because I would constantly be complaining about it to my mother and my brother would say "oh stop whinging/whining, I have it loud but I don't give a f**k! Get over it!", so I never felt alone in that regard, he gives me confidence for the future.