Why Hearing Loss May Be A Lifestyle Disease

Health & Medical Blog

The common causes of hearing loss include mechanical damage to the ear, ear infections, and buildup of earwax. However, hearing loss can also be a lifestyle disease. For example, here are three aspects of your life that can lead to hearing impairment:

Smoking

Cigarette smoking, whether passively or actively, can lead to hearing loss. The effect occurs in several ways, for example:

• Smoking damages different cells in your body, including those in your ear, which reduces their ability to process sound.
• Smoking interferes with blood circulation in the ear; any body tissue gets damaged if it experiences subpar blood flow.
• This can contribute to tinnitus (characterized by constant noise in the ears) by stimulating your ear tissues and heightening your body's sensitivity to sounds.

Therefore, you need to stop smoking to preserve your hearing. Talk to your doctor for help on how to stop smoking; the doctor may be able to connect you to local resources to help you with the process.

Being Overweight

According to WebMD, carrying extra weight (especially around the waist) also increases your risk of hearing loss. Although researchers haven't unearthed an exact cause of the correlation, they have theorized that obesity decreases blood flow (for example, by constricting blood vessels) to the ear, and the affected tissues suffer damage that reduces their functionality. 

Therefore, managing your weight may also help reserve your hearing. Lifestyle changes to manage weight include:

• Enjoying healthy meals – Eat a healthy breakfast daily, four serving of vegetables daily, and three servings of fruits daily. You also need to cut down on refined grains, sugar, and saturated fats.
• Maintaining an active lifestyle – This burns off extra calories and improves blood circulation, which helps with weight management.

Exposure to Loud Noises

You also risk damaging your hearing is you are constantly exposed to loud noises. Exposure to loud noises comes from different sources, such as:

• Listening to music with ear buds – These channel music directly to your ears, and can damage your eardrums.
• Regularly attending rock concerts – The noises cause cumulative damage to the delicate hairs in your ear, leading to a premature hearing loss.

Is your lifestyle damaging your hearing? If at least three of the issues described above apply to your life, you need to take appropriate measures to protect your hearing. For example, switching to noise-canceling headphones can help you lockout external sounds so you can still hear your music at a safe (low volume). All isn't lost, however, if you are already struggling with hearing impairment. There are various forms of treatment that can help you regain at least partial hearing. Talk to an audiologist for more information. Contact a business, such as the Hearing Health Clinic for more information.   

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25 July 2016