Even though the ears aren’t directly used to consume tobacco (we hope), smoking can still cause major damage to them alongside your lungs, heart, and other parts of your body.
If you think about it, the ears are pretty close to your nose, mouth, and eyes – the parts of your body directly affected by chemicals in cigarette smoke. As any eyes-ears-nose-and-throat (EENT) GP will tell you – what affects any one of these organs also causes a reaction in the other ones.
In this post, let’s see how smoking can cause hearing loss.
Can Smoking Contribute to Hearing Loss?
As you might have guessed, smoking can cause hearing loss. Secondhand smoke can enter through your ears and cause stereocilia to deteriorate rapidly, which can cause tinnitus – one of the primary symptoms of hearing loss.
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According to a recent review of studies concerned with the link between smoking and hearing loss, there is sufficient evidence that cigarette smoke, either inhaled or passively consumed, can cause tinnitus to anybody at any age.
Continuously triggering tinnitus can cause permanent hearing loss within the next few years – another good reason to stop smoking for good.
Can Inhaling Secondhand Smoke Cause Hearing Loss?
If you’re living with someone who smokes in enclosed spaces, it wouldn’t just be your lungs, heart, and other organs that would suffer – your ears might also get permanently damaged.
A study suggests that smokers and people consistently exposed to secondhand smoke aren’t able to hear soft sounds and interpret loud sounds accurately, with the latter usually sounding muffled or distorted.
This study also illustrates that secondhand smoking can cause irreparable damage to your inner ear. While the damage secondhand smoke can cause is mild, continuous smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke may cause permanent hearing damage.
The Primary Causes of Hearing Loss
We naturally lose much of our hearing as we age – a condition called presbycusis. But, this condition only happens to about 3 out of 10 people over the age of 65. This means that other external yet preventable factors can cause massive hearing loss. Here are some of them.
Hereditary Effects
Certain genetic factors can increase your susceptibility to auditory damage. For instance, if anyone in your family has experienced hearing loss by the age of 30 or 40, it’s highly likely you might lose yours at that age group as well.
Ear Infections
Ear infections, particularly in the middle ear, can lead to hearing loss if left untreated. These infections can cause inflammation and fluid buildup that can block your hearing and cause further damage to your ear canal and other areas of the ear. Infections are highly likely if you’re living in an area susceptible to colds or where bacteria or viruses.
Loud Noises
It’s best to turn down what you’re listening to or stop using earphones or earbuds altogether as loud music and noises are the common causes of hearing loss.
The inner ear contains tiny hair cells called stereocilia, which convert sound vibrations into electrical signals that are sent to the brain. When exposed to loud noises, these hair cells can become overstimulated and would bend or break if it consistently happens.
The extent of the damage depends on the loudness of the noise and the duration of exposure. For instance, a one-time exposure to an extremely loud noise, such as an explosion, can cause immediate and permanent damage.
Chronic exposure to loud noises, such as those in a noisy workplace or from listening to loud music over time, can also cause gradual hearing loss.
The Best Solution: Quit Smoking for Good
When you quit smoking, your body undergoes several positive changes that can contribute to reducing the risk of hearing loss and improving overall ear health. Here’s how quitting smoking can benefit your ears.
Improved Blood Circulation
Smoking can damage blood vessels and reduce blood flow, including to the ears. When you quit smoking, blood circulation improves and provides the nourishment the inner ear needs.
Reduced Inflammation
Smoking causes inflammation throughout the body, including in the ear. By quitting smoking, you reduce inflammation in the ear canal and the possible damage to your stereocilia, improving your overall hearing health and reducing the risk of early hearing damage.
Lowered Risk of Infections
Smoking weakens the immune system, making you more susceptible to ear infections. Quitting smoking can help strengthen your immune system and help reduce the risk of ear infections and related complications.
Less Exposure to Harmful Chemicals
Cigarette smoke contains harmful chemicals that can damage the delicate hair cells in the inner ear. In addition, you would also help your other organs – the lungs, heart, and other parts of your body – to recover from the damage.
Improved Overall Health
Quitting smoking has numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which are both linked to hearing loss. By improving your overall health, you also improve the health of your ears.
Summary
Can smoking cause hearing loss? Absolutely, but it’s not the worst thing it can do to you. It can also have you develop many lethal yet preventable diseases that stopping smoking can reduce or ultimately stop.
It’s understandable that smoking is difficult to quit – most people have to go through quitting multiple times. But, if you have a helping hand in quitting, you can definitely quit for good and keep yourself safe from the harms of smoking.
Smokefree Clinic gives you access to many medically reviewed and trustworthy resources that can inform and aid you in your path to wellness, so have a look around!
If you’re ready to get started, Smokefree can connect you to Australian healthcare professionals who excel in helping patients quit smoking for good, including using responsible vaping products where appropriate.