Over time, blood sugar levels that are too high or too low can damage nerves that affect your hearing.
Hearing loss happens for many reasons. You probably know that it can happen as you age or if you spend too much time around loud noises. You may not know that having diabetes puts you at risk for hearing loss. Controlling your blood sugar is a critical part of diabetes care and it can also help protect your hearing.
Your ear is a delicate structure: — and one that you depend on every day. So when diabetes, especially with poorly controlled blood sugar, takes its toll on the small blood vessels throughout your body, your ears are damaged, too. And while other parts of your body can accommodate for damaged blood vessels by depending on alternative blood supplies, your ear lacks that option.
“There’s no redundancy in the blood supply to the inner ear,” – This means that once a blood vessel is damaged, there’s no back-up blood supply — and your hearing dulls accordingly. Along with losing your hearing, you will experience an increased risk of falling because your inner ear not only helps manage your hearing but also your sense of balance.
Did you know: Ability to perceive Speech in presence of Noise is Poor in individuals with Diabetes.
Since it can happen slowly, the symptoms of hearing loss can often be hard to notice. In fact, family members and friends sometimes notice the hearing loss before the person experiencing it.
Signs of Hearing Loss:-
- Frequently asking others to repeat themselves.
- Trouble following conversations that involve more than two people.
- A hearing problem frustrates you or triggers arguments when talking to family members.
- A hearing problem causes you to attend public events or services less often than you would like.
- Thinking that others are mumbling.
- Problems hearing in noisy places such as busy restaurants.
- Trouble hearing the voices of women and small children.
- Turning up the TV or radio volume too loud for others who are nearby.
How to Protect Your Ears
You can’t reverse hearing loss, but you can follow these tips to help protect your ears:
- Keep your blood sugar as close to your target levels as possible
- Get your hearing checked every year
- Avoid other causes of hearing loss, including loud noises
- Ask your doctor whether any medicines you are taking can damage your hearing and what other options are available
Researchers suggest that blood sugar levels outside of healthy ranges may damage nerves and small blood vessels in the inner ear. Over time, this damage may affect hearing and result in hearing loss. If people have diabetes or are pre-diabetic, they need to attend annual hearing tests and manage their blood sugar levels.
For a complete hearing evaluation, book a test at the