Hearing loss can catch you by surprise, it’s true. But there are times when hearing issues suddenly pounce you like a cat rather than sneaking up on you. It could happen like this: you wake up, pull yourself out of bed, and perhaps you don’t detect it until you finish showering but your hearing feels…off, or different Muffled, maybe.
You just suspect that you got some water in your ears, but as the day progresses, and there’s no improvement, you start to get a little concerned.
At times like these, when you have a sudden drastic difference in your hearing, you should seek medical help. The reason why you should get help is that sudden hearing loss is often a symptom of an underlying medical issue. At times, that larger issue can be a blockage in your ear. It could be just a bit of earwax.
But sudden hearing loss can also be a sign of diabetes.
What is Diabetes?
You’d be forgiven for not quickly seeing the connections between hearing loss and diabetes. Your pancreas and your ears seem very far apart, distance-wise.
With type 2 diabetes, sugars in your body aren’t efficiently broken down and turned into energy. When your body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t process the insulin it is making, this is the outcome. That’s why treatments for diabetes usually entail injections or infusions of insulin.
What Does Diabetes Have to do With Your Hearing?
Diabetes is a common complicated affliction which can sometimes be degenerative. It needs to be handled carefully, in most cases with the help of your doctor. But what does that have to do with your hearing?
Believe it or not, a pretty common indicator of type 2 diabetes is sudden hearing loss. The connection lies in the ability of diabetes to cause collateral damage, typically to nerves and blood vessels around the extremities. These exact changes have a powerful impact on the delicate hairs in your ears responsible for your hearing (called stereocilia). So even before other more common diabetes symptoms appear (such as numb toes), you may experience sudden hearing loss.
Is There Anything I Can Do?
If you’re in this scenario, and your hearing has suddenly begun acting up, you’ll definitely want to get checked by a medical professional. You might not even know that you have diabetes at first, but these warning signs will begin to clue you in.
As is the case with most types of hearing loss, the sooner you find treatment, the more options you’ll have. But it’s not just diabetes you need to watch for. Sudden hearing loss can also be caused by:
- Autoimmune conditions.
- Blood pressure issues.
- Growth of tissue in the ear.
- An obstruction in the ear (like an build-up of earwax).
- Some types of infections.
- Problems with blood circulation (often caused by other issues such as diabetes).
Without an appropriate medical diagnosis, it can be challenging to figure out what’s causing your sudden hearing loss and how to manage the underlying symptoms.
Sudden Hearing Loss Treatment Options
Regardless of which of these your sudden hearing loss is caused by, if you identify it early enough, your hearing will typically return to normal with correct treatment. If you promptly address the problem, your hearing is likely to return to normal once the blockage is removed, or in the case of diabetes, once you address the circulation problems.
But quick and effective treatment is the key here. If they are not treated in time, some conditions, including diabetes, will bring about irreversible harm to your hearing. So it’s vital that you seek out medical treatment as quickly as possible, and if you’re suffering from hearing loss get that treated.
Keep an Eye on Your Ears
Sudden hearing loss catch you by surprise, but it may be easier to detect, and you could catch it sooner if you get regular hearing screenings. These screenings can normally uncover specific hearing issues before they become obvious to you.
There’s one more thing that diabetes and hearing loss share, treating them sooner will bring better outcomes. Other problems, like deterioration of cognitive function, can result from neglected hearing loss. Make an appointment with us for a hearing exam right away.
