Worsening of symptoms during this time may be considered as an indicator of recurrent onset in patients known to have the disorder, and age of initial onset can be from early childhood to young adulthood, with attenuation of symptoms sometimes happening after age 30. Patients first exhibiting the disorder at a younger age may also experience worsened symptoms. Currently, no specific correlating factor or reason for winter-related manifestation has been established, though the coldness and dryer air common to winter conditions may be suspect. Winter onset is, however, considered to be a distinguishing feature of KWE among other erythematic skin disorders.When peeling of skin occurs, the newly exposed layer of skin underneath is moist, raw and very sensitive. While this may result in minor discomfort and inconvenience, in severe cases of KWE where large areas of raw skin are present, it is often life-altering and debilitating. KWE is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. This means that the defective gene responsible for the disorder is located on an autosome (chromosome 8 is an autosome), and one copy of the defective gene is sufficient to cause the disorder when inherited from a parent who also has the disorder.KWE can begin as a spontaneous mutation, first appearing in an individual with no previous family history of the disorder. This may be due to a genetic predisposition for the disorder, possibly connected to the Oudtshoorn ancestral line. Genetics
KWE is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner.
Treatable conditions may include middle ear infection, acoustic neuroma,
concussion, and otosclerosis.Evaluation of tinnitus can include a hearing test (audiogram), measurement of acoustic parameters of the tinnitus like pitch and loudness, and psychological assessment of comorbid conditions like depression, anxiety, and stress that are associated with severity of the tinnitus.One definition of tinnitus, as compared to normal ear noise experience, is lasting five minutes at least twice a week. However, people with tinnitus often experience the noise more frequently than this. Tinnitus can be present constantly or intermittently. Some people with constant tinnitus might not be aware of it all the time, but only for example during the night when there is less environmental noise to mask it. Chronic tinnitus can be defined as tinnitus with duration of six months or more. Audiology
Since most persons with tinnitus also have hearing loss, a pure tone hearing test resulting in an audiogram may help diagnose a cause, though some persons with tinnitus do not have hearing loss. An audiogram may also facilitate fitting of a hearing aid in those cases where hearing loss is significant. The pitch of tinnitus is often in the range of the hearing loss. Psychoacoustics
Acoustic qualification of tinnitus will include measurement of several acoustic parameters like frequency in cases of monotone tinnitus or frequency range and bandwidth in cases of narrow band noise tinnitus, loudness in dB above hearing threshold at the indicated frequency, mixing-point, and minimum masking level.