The underlying foundation of noise-induced hearing loss may seem well-understood. A fairly obvious cause-and-effect relationship is indicated by the name, after all. Our basic understanding is that permanent hearing damage is a result of exposure to overly loud noise over a long period of time.
And while that’s true, the mechanisms behind that cause haven’t always been so well understood. But because of new research, we’re gaining a deeper understanding of noise-related hearing loss, including the role of zinc intake after being exposed to loud noises. Hearing loss and zinc regulation have an important link according to this research.
What is zinc? And how does it impact hearing loss?
Zinc is a mineral required for executing necessary bodily functions and the majority of individuals have plenty of it. Zinc helps your brain translate chemical signals and is connected to immune system functions. In most instances, a person’s diet supplies enough zinc.
At first glance, it might be challenging to determine the relationship between hearing loss and zinc. The link between zinc and hearing isn’t, after all, immediately obvious. However, a novel experiment has shed some light on what’s going on.
Researchers exposed mice to loud sounds and performed a few analyses afterward. When exposed to loud noises, the same thing happens to mice as happens to humans: the delicate parts of the ear become damaged. For humans, sound will initially become impermanently muffled. As a person is regularly exposed to loud noise, this damage will become more severe and lasting. This damage can’t be cured in either humans or mice.
Researchers also took blood samples from the mice and noticed some fascinating results in terms of free-floating zinc.
Does zinc help or cause hearing loss?
Scientists now have a greater picture of how the symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss occur because of this research. Normally, when zinc is in the body, it’s bound molecularly. Researchers detected zinc in free-floating form after the experiment’s mice were subjected to loud noise. Zinc most likely reacts the same way in humans.
This zinc de-regulation ends up causing cellular damage to the inner ear, especially to the parts of the inner ear in control of clear hearing. This is the mechanism that scientists now believe leads to the type of damage that causes noise-related hearing loss.
How to manage hearing loss
As scientists gain a better understanding of this, they might be able to develop novel methods to prevent hearing loss in people who are frequently subjected to loud noise. However, it may be some time before those developments become a viable reality. But that doesn’t mean your ears can’t be protected.
So, you may be wondering: how can I prevent noise-related hearing loss?
There are several strategies you can utilize to protect your ears:
- Regularly check in with your hearing specialist: Discovering damage as early as possible can help decrease long-term damage, and coming in to see us for a routine hearing test is the best way to do that.
- Use ear protection: Ear muffs and ear plugs can help your ears deal with loud environments that you can’t, or don’t want to avoid. If you attend that concert, for example, wear a set of ear plugs to ensure you can still hear, but that your ears don’t become irreversibly damaged as a result.
- Limit your exposure to loud noises: This obviously includes noises such as jet engines, concerts, or sporting events. But there are some more commonplace noises that can cause hearing loss that may be surprising, including things like a leaf blower, traffic, or people speaking loudly in a busy office.
Protect your ears by understanding causes
Can noise-related hearing loss be reversed? Regrettably not. This form of hearing loss and tinnitus cannot be cured, though it can be managed quite effectively. Strategies created to keep your hearing safe will be more successful the better you understand the mechanisms behind hearing loss.
Even though this research is promising, we still have a ways to go. But we appear to be getting closer to understanding. Your direct role is to get your hearing examined and use hearing protection.