Remember the old story of Johnny Appleseed? In elementary school, you might have been taught that he migrated across the United States, bringing the gift of nourishing apples to every community he paid a visit to (you should eat apples because they’re good for you and that’s the moral of the story).
Actually, that isn’t the whole truth. Around the end of the 19th century, Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman was his birth name) did in fact present apples to numerous parts of the United States. But apples weren’t as delicious and sweet as modern apples. Producing hard cider, in fact, was the main use of apples.
Yup, every neighborhood that Johnny Appleseed paid a visit to was gifted with booze.
Alcohol and humans can have a complicated relationship. On the one hand, it’s bad for your health (and not only in the long term, many of these health effects can be felt right away when you spend the early morning hours dizzy, nauseous, or passed out). But many people enjoy getting buzzed.
This habit goes back into the early mists of time. Humanity has been imbibing since, well, the beginning of recorded history. But it may be possible that your hearing problems are being worsened by drinking alcohol.
So when you’re at the bar, loud music isn’t the only risk to the health of your hearing. It’s the beer, also.
Tinnitus can be triggered by alcohol
Most hearing specialists will agree that drinking causes tinnitus. That isn’t really that difficult to accept. If you’ve ever partaken of a little too much, you may have experienced something known as “the spins”. When you’re dizzy and the room feels like it’s spinning after drinking this is what’s known as “the spins”.
The spins will happen because the alcohol is interfering with the part of your body in control of balance: your inner ear.
And what else is your inner ear used for? Obviously, your hearing. Which means that if you’ve experienced the spins, it isn’t a surprise that you might have also experienced a ringing or buzzing in your ears that are characteristic of tinnitus.
Ototoxic substances, including alcohol, will trigger tinnitus
The word ototoxic might sound scary, but it simply indicates something that can be damaging to your hearing. This involves both the auditory nerves and the inner ear, essentially everything that links your whole auditory system, from your ears to your brain.
There are several ways that this occurs in practice:
- The blood flow in your ear can also be decreased by alcohol. The deficiency of blood flow can itself be an origin of damage.
- The stereocilia in your ears can be compromised by alcohol (these are tiny hairs that let you sense vibrations in the air, vibrations that your brain later converts into sound). Once those delicate hairs are compromised, there’s no repairing them.
- There are neurotransmitters in your brain that handle hearing which can be damaged by alcohol. This means that, while the alcohol is in your system, your brain isn’t working correctly (both decision making centers, and hearing centers are affected).
Drinking-associated hearing loss & tinnitus aren’t always long-term
So if you’re out for a night on the town or getting some drinks with some friends, you might notice yourself developing some symptoms.
The good news is that these symptoms (when they are related to alcohol intake) are typically temporary. As your body chemistry returns to normal, you’ll most likely start to recover some of your hearing and your tinnitus will decline.
But the longer you have alcohol in your system, the longer your symptoms will persist. And if this type of damage is repeated routinely, it could become irreversible. In other words, it’s definitely possible (if not likely) that you can generate both permanent tinnitus and hearing loss by drinking too much and too frequently.
a couple of other things are happening too
Clearly, it’s more than just the booze. The bar scene isn’t hospitable for your ears for other reasons also.
- Alcohol leads to other problems: Drinking is also bad for other facets of your health. Alcohol abuse can result in health problems such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. And more severe tinnitus symptoms as well as life threatening health problems could be the result.
- Noise: The first is that bars tend to be, well, loud. Some of their charm comes from…uh.. just this. But when you’re 40 or older it can be a bit much. There’s loud music, loud people, and lots of yelling and mary-making. All of that noisiness can, over time, cause damage to your hearing.
The point is, there are significant hazards to your health and your hearing in these late night bar visits.
Does that mean it’s time to stop drinking?
Naturally, sitting in a quiet room and drinking by yourself is not at all what we’re recommending. The root issue is the alcohol itself. So if you’re having trouble moderating your alcohol intake, you could be creating major problems for yourself, and for your hearing. Your doctor can help you move towards living a healthier life with the proper treatment.
If you’ve noticed a loud ringing in your ears after heavy drinking, schedule an appointment with us for a consultation.
