Some families share more than eye color or height, and hearing loss can be part of that inheritance. Still, you aren’t always as susceptible as your relatives. Owner Michele Schultz, Au.D., and chief operating officer Danielle Harper, Au.D., CCC-A, both audiologists, lead Carolina Health and Hearing. At offices from Greenville and West Columbia to Asheville and Cary, our audiologists evaluate hearing within the context of family history. If hearing loss is a known condition in your family, early testing and protective habits can help you preserve your hearing and address changes sooner.
How Do Changes in Our Genes Affect the Ear?
Changes in genes can cause hearing loss by altering how the ear develops or functions. Most genetic hearing loss is sensorineural, meaning it involves the hair cells of the inner ear or the auditory nerve. It may be present at birth or develop later in life.
Genetic hearing loss is generally divided into two categories. Nonsyndromic hearing loss accounts for about 70% of genetic cases and occurs without other medical symptoms. Syndromic hearing loss makes up the remaining 30% and occurs alongside other health conditions, such as Usher, Pendred, and Waardenburg syndromes.
What Decides Whether a Child Will Inherit Hearing Loss?
The inheritance pattern of the specific gene involved largely decides whether a child will inherit hearing loss. Depending on the pattern, a child’s chance may range from no risk to 50% or higher, and in many cases, parents with normal hearing can still have a child with genetic hearing loss.
The main inheritance patterns include:
- Autosomal dominant: Only one changed gene from one parent is needed, giving each child a 50% chance of inheriting the condition.
- Autosomal recessive: Both parents carry one changed gene without having hearing loss themselves, giving each child a 25% chance of inheriting the condition.
- X-linked: The changed gene is on the X chromosome, so males are more likely to be affected, while females are often carriers.
- Mitochondrial: The condition is passed only by the mother and can affect all of her children.
Autosomal recessive inheritance accounts for about 80% of nonsyndromic genetic hearing loss, which explains why most infants with hearing loss are born to parents with normal hearing. Even within the same family, severity and age of onset can vary from one person to another.
Can Newborn Screening Catch Genetic Hearing Loss?
Newborn screening can catch genetic hearing loss that is present at birth, but some forms don’t become noticeable until childhood or later in adulthood. Congenital forms are identified through newborn hearing screening, while progressive forms develop gradually over years or decades.
Congenital hearing loss affects up to three in every 1,000 babies, and inherited genetic factors contribute to about 60% of hearing loss in infants. In young children, signs may include not reacting to loud sounds, not turning toward voices, or delays in speech and language development.
Later-onset genetic hearing loss often develops slowly, which can make it easy to overlook. Adults may notice:
- Difficulty following conversations in noisy places
- Asking others to repeat themselves
- Turning up the television or phone volume
- Ringing or buzzing in the ears
Because gradual changes can go unnoticed, family members are often the first to recognize them.
When Should You Get a Hearing Test in Greenville or Asheville?
You should get a hearing test at our Greenville or Asheville office, or any of our other locations, as soon as you notice changes in your hearing, and a family history of hearing loss makes baseline testing and regular evaluations worthwhile even before symptoms appear.
Almost all hospitals screen newborns for hearing loss within the first few days of life. Children who pass newborn screening but have a family history of hearing loss may still benefit from monitoring, since some genetic forms develop later.
For adults, a baseline hearing evaluation provides a reference point for tracking changes over time. Our audiologists can perform comprehensive hearing testing, discuss your family history, and recommend how often you should return for follow-up testing. When a genetic cause is suspected, they may recommend a referral for genetic counseling or testing. Currently, no genetic test can predict whether a person will develop age-related hearing loss, which makes regular hearing evaluations especially important.
How Can You Keep Your Hearing Strong if It Runs in the Family?
You can keep your hearing strong when hearing loss runs in the family by limiting noise exposure, using hearing protection, reviewing medications with your healthcare providers, managing your overall health, and scheduling regular hearing evaluations.
Because some genes can make the inner ear more vulnerable to damage, avoiding additional strain is especially important. Wearing earplugs or earmuffs around loud equipment, concerts, or firearms and keeping headphone volume at moderate levels can reduce noise exposure. Some medications can affect hearing, so patients should let their healthcare providers know about a family history of hearing loss before starting new prescriptions.
Overall health also plays a role. Conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes may increase the risk of hearing loss, so managing these conditions supports long-term hearing health.
When hearing loss does develop, our audiologists can recommend options such as hearing aids and track changes over time to adjust care as needed.
Find Your Nearest Carolina Health and Hearing Office
If hearing loss runs in your family, a hearing evaluation with one of our audiologists gives you a clear baseline. The first test also helps determine whether immediate treatment or additional monitoring is needed.
Call our main line at 803-590-8548 or choose the office closest to you to schedule an appointment at one of our 14 locations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.