- The Future of Hearing Health Research: Promising Breakthroughs - April 18, 2024
- Hearing Health in the Classroom: Strategies for Teachers and Students - April 6, 2024
- The Power of Bluetooth: A New Chapter in Hearing Aids - March 26, 2024
Hearing loss impacts one in eight Americans over the age of 12, who show signs of hearing loss in both ears. While a proportion of people are born with hearing loss, many more acquire the condition as a result of age and lived experiences. Illness, noise environments and accidents can also harm hearing health.
In addition, our lifestyle choices throughout our lifetime play a huge role in the health we enjoy later in life. Many of us have migrated toward ending or moderating habits that used to be largely mainstream and overabundant. Today’s culture surrounding drinking and smoking is markedly different from a generation ago. Now, people are well aware of the negative health impacts associated with both habits. In addition to those more widely known, smoking and drinking can also lead to increased risks of hearing loss.
How smoking impacts hearing loss
The Nicotine and Tobacco Research journal recently published a study that compared the hearing health of smokers to non-smokers. People that smoked cigarettes (up to 10 per day) were 40% more likely to have high-frequency hearing loss. This loss of high-frequency tones is what first appears as symptoms of sensorineural hearing loss, or the type of hearing loss that results from damage to the inner ear. These smokers were also 10% more likely to develop low-frequency hearing loss, which encompasses sounds like deep voices and bass tones.
The risks increase with the number of cigarettes smoked. For instance, those that smoked a pack a day (or 20 cigarettes) saw a jump in the instances of high- and low-frequency hearing loss, up to 70% and 40% respectively.
Why smoking damages hearing health
Experts surmise that smoking damages hearing health because nicotine and carbon monoxide produced through the habit lowers blood oxygen levels. In turn, blood vessels constrict which can cause damage to the sensitive cells of the inner ear.
These inner ear cells are delicate and non-regenerative, in addition to being integral to the hearing process. They are necessary in that they receive sound information and transmit it to the brain. When these cells become damaged they do not repair themselves, and so as they decay, less sound information is captured.
Other risks of smoking
The harmful effects of smoking are not limited to a higher risk of hearing loss. Smoking also causes lung (and other types of cancers), and is linked to heart disease, increased risk of stroke, bone deterioration, and reduced immune health.
The link between alcohol and hearing loss
A team of German researchers asked the question “Does excess alcohol consumption affect hearing heath?” The answer was yes. Unlike smoking, which can affect the health of the inner ear cells essential in the hearing process, the negative effects of too much alcohol show up mostly in the brain.
Consuming too much alcohol over long periods can damage the central auditory cortex, where what we hear is processed from mere sound information into what we perceive as sound, or the experience of hearing. Extended overuse of alcohol throughout a lifetime can damage auditory nerves, which means that people who drink even moderate amounts can eventually end up with nerve damage that impairs hearing.
That said, using large amounts of alcohol can physically impair the ear, too. If the blood stream contains too much alcohol, that creates a toxic environment for cells. When cells within the ear are exposed to toxicity, we call that ototoxic and hearing loss can result.
Cessation programs for alcohol and tobacco
There are resources available to help you end your dangerous relationship with cigarettes and alcohol. Visit Smokefree.gov for help in putting together a nicotine quit plan and to find more resources to assist you along your journey.
For help with alcohol cessation, many people turn to 12-step programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous. They’ve helped millions of people rethink their relationship with alcohol. If you want to experiment with a sober-ish lifestyle, you can google ‘Sober Curious’ which is a newer movement focusing on a less strident approach to limiting alcohol consumption.
Invest in your hearing health
Regardless of the other habits you are pursuing or trying to actively change, hearing health can become a larger priority than it currently is in your life. Schedule a hearing consultation with our team of hearing health experts today. Monitoring the condition of your current hearing is a great way to start preventing hearing loss, or proactively confronting hearing loss if it makes an appearance in your life.