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How Diabetes Affects Your Hearing

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Hearing loss is more common if you have poorly controlled diabetes.

If you have diabetes, you have at least twice the chance of experiencing hearing loss than someone who does not have the condition, according to the American Diabetes Association.

If you have prediabetes, your risk for hearing loss is 30 percent higher compared with those who do not have diabetes. Two other things that can increase the chance that you’ll experience hearing loss are age and smoking.

So just why are people with diabetes at a higher risk for hearing loss? “We believe it’s years of poorly controlled blood sugar,” says Dr. Deena Adimoolam, an endocrinologist and assistant professor of diabetes, endocrinology and bone disease at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

In short, the effects of high blood glucose over time can damage your hearing. “Although the exact reason for diabetes-related hearing loss is unknown, it’s suspected that there are two major causes,” says Dr. Jagmeet S. Mundi, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California. “This includes damage to the small blood vessels that provide blood flow to the inner ear and direct nerve damage to the inner ear structures. The combination of the two leads to hearing loss in these patients.”

Symptoms of Diabetes-Related Hearing Loss

For the most part, the symptoms of diabetes-related hearing loss will be like those of everyone else. One difference is that hearing professionals can track a consistent difference in the ability of those with diabetes to hear low- or middle-frequency sounds. However, that may not be something you notice. In fact, you may not detect any difference at all, at least not for a long time.

“People are notoriously bad at noticing the problem. It takes an extremely long time for people to blame [hearing loss] on themselves,” Konrad-Martin says.

It may be a loved one observing that your hearing is not that great anymore in certain situations, such as at a noisy restaurant or even in a quieter environment.

Other hearing loss symptoms include:

Thinking that people talking are mumbling

Not hearing when people speak directly to you

Turning up the volume on devices frequently

Speaking more loudly than necessary

Increased sensitivity to loud noises (this also could be the sign of a condition called hyperacusis)

A ringing sound in the ears (this also is associated with a hearing problem called tinnitus)

Feeling as if you can hear what someone says, but it’s not as clear as you’d like. “Think of it like a picture going out of focus,” Konrad-Martin says.

Although hearing loss is common as you get older, hearing professionals often find that the degree of hearing loss in someone with diabetes is more severe than someone of the same age who does not have diabetes.

Diabetes-Related Hearing Loss: Treatment and Prevention

If you think you are experiencing hearing loss, talk to your health care provider or schedule a visit to an audiologist. An audiologist specializes in hearing loss and can screen you with a full hearing exam.

It’s important to talk to your health care provider if your hearing loss occurs suddenly – a sign linked to uncontrolled diabetes – or if there are more subtle changes over time. Both situations require a closer evaluation.

Many people with hearing loss use a hearing aid. If that sounds intimidating to you, don’t worry. Today’s hearing aids tend to be smaller and easier to use than in the past. “People are generally happy with their hearing aids now,” Konrad-Martin says.

Depending on the circumstance, hearing loss can sometimes be reversed with the use of steroids, Mundi says.

An audiologist can also help coach you on ways to hear better in specific situations, such as in a noisy room.

Hearing loss can make life more challenging, so it’s important to try to prevent it. One additional reason to prevent it when you have diabetes is that you’re also at higher risk for vision loss. So, if you experience both hearing and vision loss, you’re hit with a sensory double whammy.

One way to prevent hearing loss related to diabetes is to keep your blood sugar under control. Take your medications as your doctor prescribes, stay physically active and make healthier food choices. These are all basic but important ways to improve your health and cut the risk for diabetes complications. “If you can maintain control of your blood sugar, you can prevent worsening of hearing loss,” Adimoolam says.

Source: http://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2017-05-09/how-diabetes-affects-your-hearing

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Middle Ear Infection (Chronic Otitis Media) and Hearing Loss

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WHAT IS OTITIS MEDIA?

Otitis media refers to inflammation of the middle ear. When infection occurs, the condition is called “acute otitis media.” Acute otitis media occurs when a cold, allergy, or upper respiratory infection, and the presence of bacteria or viruses lead to the accumulation of pus and mucus behind the eardrum, blocking the Eustachian tube. This causes earache and swelling.

When fluid forms in the middle ear, the condition is known as “otitis media with effusion.” This occurs in a recovering ear infection or when one is about to occur. Fluid can remain in the ear for weeks to many months. When a discharge from the ear persists or repeatedly returns, this is sometimes called chronic middle ear infection. Fluid can remain in the ear up to three weeks following the infection. If not treated, chronic ear infections have potentially serious consequences such as temporary or permanent hearing loss.

HOW DOES OTITIS MEDIA AFFECT A CHILD’s HEARING?

All children with middle ear infection or fluid have some degree of hearing loss. The average hearing loss in ears with fluid is 24 decibels…equivalent to wearing ear plugs. (Twenty-four decibels is about the level of the very softest of whispers.) Thicker fluid can cause much more loss, up to 45 decibels (the range of conversational speech).

Your child may have hearing loss if he or she is unable to understand certain words and speaks louder than normal. Essentially, a child experiencing hearing loss from middle ear infections will hear muffled sounds and misunderstand speech rather than incur a complete hearing loss. Even so, the consequences can be significant – the young patient could permanently lose the ability to consistently understand speech in a noisy environment (such as a classroom) leading to a delay in learning important speech and language skills.

TYPES OF HEARING LOSS

Conductive hearing loss is a form of hearing impairment due to a lesion in the external auditory canal or middle ear. This form of hearing loss is usually temporary and found in those ages 40 or younger. Untreated chronic ear infections can lead to conductive hearing loss; draining the infected middle ear drum will usually return hearing to normal.

The other form of hearing loss is sensorineural hearing loss, hearing loss due to a lesion of the auditory division of the 8th cranial nerve or the inner ear. Historically, this condition is most prevalent in middle age and older patients; however, extended exposure to loud music can lead to sensorineural hearing loss in adolescents.

WHEN SHOULD A HEARING TEST BE PERFORMED?

A hearing test should be performed for children who have frequent ear infections, hearing loss that lasts more than six weeks, or fluid in the middle ear for more than three months. There are a wide range of medical devices now available to test a child’s hearing, Eustachian tube function, and reliability of the ear drum. They include the otoscopy, tympanometer, and audiometer.

Do children lose their hearing for reasons other than chronic otitis media?

Children can incur temporary hearing loss for other reasons than chronic middle ear infection and Eustachian tube dysfunction. They include:

  • Cerumen impaction (compressed earwax)
  • Otitis externa: Inflammation of the external auditory canal, also called “swimmer’s ear.”
  • Cholesteatoma: A mass of horn shaped squamous cell epithelium and cholesterol in the middle ear, usually resulting from chronic otitis media.
  • Otosclerosis: This is a disease of the otic capsule (bony labyrinth) in the ear, which is more prevalent in adults and characterized by formation of soft, vascular bone leading to progressive conductive hearing loss. It occurs due to fixation of the stapes (bones in the ear). Sensorineural hearing loss may result because of involvement of the cochlear duct.
  • Trauma: A trauma to the ear or head may cause temporary or permanent hearing loss.

Ear health Tips:

  1. Use earplugs around loud noises.
  2. Turn the volume down when you are listening to music using head phone.
  3. Give your ears time to recover after exposing to loud noice.
  4. Stop using cotton swabs in your ears, don’t clean ears. They are self cleaning organs. Wax will come out. If you see, clean with damp towel.
  5. Keep your ears dry

Source https://www.entnet.org//content/middle-ear-infection-chronic-otitis-media-and-hearing-loss

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