Can high-stress cause hearing loss?
Stress and anxiety plague most Americans, which can lead to a variety of health issues. Long-term effects of stress can even trigger hearing loss and other inner-ear problems. When you are always stressed, your ear won’t receive the clear signals it needs to function. This can lead to serious health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, or even diabetes.
How are stress, hypertension, and hearing loss connected?
Anything that can restrict your circulation will also affect your hearing. Heart disease, diabetes, and smoking can all negatively impact your hearing. The small sensory hairs on the inner ear depend on good circulation to function correctly and deliver the sounds heard in the outer ear and deliver the messages to the brain. The inner ear hairs, or sensors, each translate a different type of frequency, and when the sensors are damaged or die, then sounds will not be heard entirely, and messages won’t be clear. When you experience hearing loss due to damage to your sensory hair cells, it is called sensorineural hearing loss.
Does stress affect tinnitus?
When you are stressed, it can trigger your tinnitus to flare-up, or you might have a hard time ignoring it. Managing your stress level is very important when it comes to your tinnitus. Stress can also aggravate pulsatile tinnitus, a type of tinnitus where sufferers have a rhythmic ear noise that pulsates, beats, or bumps in time with the heartbeat. An underlying cause of pulsatile tinnitus is high blood pressure, so if you or someone you know suffers from this, it is vital to get checked out by a physician immediately.
How can I manage stress?
While most hearing loss can’t be reversed, there are things you can do to help reduce the amount of stress in your everyday life.
Give yourself a break – Take a break from the cause of your stress every 20 minutes. Even this minimal amount of time can help you feel less overwhelmed.
Exercise – Not only is exercise good for your body, it is known to help reduce stress as well.
Find humor in everyday life – Smiling and laughing exercises facial muscles, which sends a happy signal to the brain.
Get support – Talking with a friend or family member can help ease the amount of stress. Talking about the cause of the stress can help others understand what you are going through and help you better understand how to manage it.
Meditate – Both meditation and yoga are perfect for managing stress. It helps relax the mind and body.
If you notice a change in your hearing, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are available for in-office and curbside appointments. Contact Sound Hearing Care at 864-881-1663 to schedule an appointment at one of our four convenient locations in Simpsonville, Greer, Travelers Rest, and Greenville.
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