The underlying basis of noise-induced hearing loss may seem well-founded. A fairly obvious cause-and-effect connection is suggested by the name, after all. Our basic understanding is that permanent hearing damage is caused by exposure to overly loud noise over a long period of time.
And while that’s true, the mechanisms behind that cause have not always been so well understood. But because of recent research, we’re developing a greater understanding of noise-induced hearing loss, and this includes the role of zinc intake after being exposed to loud sounds. Hearing loss and zinc management have a significant link according to this research.
How is hearing loss impacted by zinc?
Zinc is a commonplace mineral. The majority of people have an abundance of zinc in their bodies, performing specific and necessary functions. Zinc helps your brain translate chemical signals and is connected to immune system functions. With a few exceptions, most people receive plenty of zinc from their daily food intake.
At first, it may be challenging to determine the connection between hearing loss and zinc. After all, it’s not immediately clear what role zinc plays in your hearing. A new experiment has started to reveal what’s going on, however.
Researchers exposed mice to loud noises and conducted a few analyses afterward. In mice, as with humans, the fragile mechanisms of the ear become damaged when exposed to loud sound. For humans, sound will initially become temporarily muffled. As a person is continually exposed to loud sound, this damage will become more serious and lasting. This damage can’t be healed in either humans or mice.
Researchers also took blood samples from the mice and noticed some interesting results in terms of free-floating zinc.
Is hearing loss caused or helped by zinc?
Scientists now have a greater picture of how the symptoms of noise-related hearing loss occur because of these results. Normally, when zinc is in the body, it’s bound molecularly. Researchers detected zinc in free-floating form when the experiment’s mice were subjected to loud noise. Zinc most likely behaves the same way in humans.
This zinc de-regulation ends up causing cellular damage to the inner ear, particularly to the parts of the inner ear responsible for clear hearing. This is the mechanism that scientists now believe results in the kind of damage that causes noise-induced hearing loss.
How to treat hearing loss
In the future, this sort of understanding might help scientists stop noise-related hearing loss from ever occurring, even in those individuals who are often exposed to loud noises. Regrettably, these developments are likely still some ways off. But that doesn’t mean your ears are defenseless.
So, you might be wondering: how can I prevent noise-related hearing loss?
There are several strategies you can employ to safeguard your ears:
- Regulate your exposure to loud sounds: Sporting events, concerts, and jet engines come under this category. But there are some more commonplace noises that can cause hearing loss that might be surprising, and that includes things like a leaf blower, traffic, or people talking loudly in a bustling office.
- Wear ear protection: If there are loud settings you want to be in, or simply can’t avoid, ear plugs and ear muffs can help decrease the damage. If you attend that concert, for instance, wear a set of ear plugs to ensure you can still hear, but that your ears don’t become irreversibly damaged as a result.
- Consistently check in with your hearing specialist: Discovering damage as early as possible can help reduce long-term damage, and coming in to see us for a regular hearing test is the best way to do that.
Protect your ears by understanding causes
Can noise-induced hearing loss be reversed? Sadly no. This form of hearing loss and tinnitus cannot be cured, though it can be managed very successfully. Better understanding the causes of hearing loss and the mechanisms by which hearing loss works can help hearing specialists (and you) develop better techniques and treatments tailored to keep your hearing safe.
Although this research is encouraging, we still have a ways to go. But we appear to be getting closer to understanding. Your immediate role is to get your hearing evaluated and use ear protection.
