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Why Does Tinnitus Run in My Family?

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady wrote,

I have had tinnitus for several years. It seems to be a genetic disorder as my mother and brother both suffered from it as well. I worked in the music business for years and always attributed it to the exposure to loud music and extended use of Aspirin. Both my brother and mother had heart issues. Is tinnitus related to heart disease? Also, what would cause an increase in the sound of tinnitus?

I’ve never heard of tinnitus being genetic. Rather than your family’s tinnitus being genetic, you could all have tinnitus because of similarities in your environments, lifestyles or upbringing that result in tinnitus. When that happens, it is easy to think that tinnitus might be genetic.

Being around loud music can and does cause tinnitus. So can taking a lot of Aspirin. Fortunately, tinnitus caused by Aspirin is typically temporary.

Furthermore, tinnitus can be related to heart issues—depending on the type of your tinnitus. For example, if your tinnitus pulses in unison to your heartbeat, you have a vascular kind of tinnitus called pulsatile tinnitus. High blood pressure or clogged arteries in your neck and head can cause this kind of tinnitus.

If you have heart disease and take heart medications, one of the side effects of the heart drugs can be tinnitus.

There are many factors that can cause your tinnitus to increase in volume. For example:

— being around louder sounds
— taking any of the more than 500 drugs known to cause tinnitus
— increasing hearing loss
— stress
— anxiety
— eating certain foods
— various diseases such as allergies and diabetes
— ear infections and other ear conditions, and so on.

If you want to learn more about tinnitus and a number of things you can do to help bring it under your control,  check out the new 5th edition of “When Your Ears Ring! Cope with Your Tinnitus—Here’s How“.

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Hearing Loss Research & Resources

Free Visor Cards

Download your free Visor Cards for hard of hearing or deaf people here.

Loop Systems

Loop your home or meeting room. Discover how you can hear wonderfully clear sound again when listening to the TV/radio, etc, or when listening to a speaker at a meeting.

Loop systems are one of the best-kept secrets in town. To learn more about Loop Systems and what they can do for you, click here.

Take Control of Your Tinnitus—Here’s How

If your ears ring, buzz, chirp, hiss, click or roar, you know just how annoying tinnitus can be. You do not have to put up with this racket for the rest of your life. This book teaches you many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control so it no longer bothers you.

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Sounds Now Too Loud for You?

Hypersensitive to Sound front coverIf some (or all) normal sounds seem so loud they “blow the top of your head off”, or make you wince or jump, or cause you headaches or ear pain, or affect your balance, or result in fear or annoyance of sounds so you feel you have to avoid these sounds, this book is for you!

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Hearing Phantom Sounds?

When hard of hearing people begin hearing phantom voices or music, they immediately worry they are going crazy. It never crosses their minds that they are sane and are just experiencing Musical Ear syndrome.

To learn more about the strange phantom sounds of Musical Ear syndrome and what you can do about them, click here to read a comprehensive article about Musical Ear Syndrome.

Or get the book—Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

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Center for Hearing Loss Help

Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.

1013 Ridgeway Drive, Lynden,
WA 98264-1057 USA

Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com

Phone: 360-778-1266 (M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM PST)

© 2025 Center for Hearing Loss Help – Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life [which also includes perfect hearing] through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 6:23]

"But know this, in the last days perilous times will come" [2 Timothy 3:1]. "For there will be famines, pestilences, and [severe] earthquakes in various places" [Matthew 24:7], "distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring"—tsunamis, hurricanes—Luke 21:25, but this is good news if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "when these things begin to happen, lift up your heads [and rejoice] because your redemption draws near" [Luke 21:28].