The underlying foundation of noise-related hearing loss may seem well-founded. A fairly obvious cause-and-effect relationship is suggested by the name, after all. The universal understanding is simply that loud sounds damage the hearing mechanisms in the ear, causing long-term and irreversible hearing loss.
Though we’ve known this for some time now, we haven’t completely understood the underlying mechanisms behind it. That’s improving, thanks to emerging research into the role of zinc management after exposure to loud sounds. This research reveals that there’s an important connection between zinc and hearing loss.
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 an abundance of it. Zinc helps your brain interpret chemical signals and is linked to immune system functions. With a few exceptions, most people get enough zinc from their daily food intake.
The connection between zinc and hearing loss might, at first glance, be difficult to recognize. After all, it isn’t immediately obvious what role zinc plays in your hearing. However, a novel experiment has shed some light on what’s happening.
Researchers exposed mice to loud sounds and carried out a few analyses afterward. When exposed to loud noises, the same thing happens to mice as happens to humans: the sensitive parts of the ear are damaged. For humans, sound will initially become impermanently muffled. This will become more acute and more permanent as chronic noise exposure continues. In both mice and humans, the body is not capable of healing or repairing this damage.
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?
Because of this result, scientists now better understand how noise-induced hearing loss symptoms happen. Typically, zinc in the body is molecularly bound. Researchers discovered zinc in free-floating form after the experiment’s mice were exposed to loud noise. Zinc most likely reacts the same way in humans.
The free-floating zinc causes damage to delicate parts of the inner ear that are essential in order to hear clearly. Scientists are now thinking that this is one of the mechanisms that produces hearing damage related to noise exposure.
How to treat hearing loss
As scientists reach a deeper understanding of this, they may be able to develop novel methods to prevent hearing loss in individuals who are frequently subjected to loud noise. Regrettably, these developments are likely still some ways off. But there are still other ways to safeguard your ears.
So, how can you safeguard yourself from noise-induced hearing loss?
There are a number of approaches you can utilize to safeguard your ears:
- Consistently check in with your hearing specialist: Undergoing a hearing screening (and regularly checking in with us) can help detect damage early.
- Wear ear protection: Ear muffs and ear plugs can help your ears manage noisy environments that you can’t, or don’t want to stay away from. If you go to that concert, for instance, use a pair of ear plugs to ensure you can still hear, but that your ears don’t become irreversibly damaged as a consequence.
- Limit your exposure to loud noises: Sporting events, concerts, and jet engines fall into 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 individuals talking loudly in a busy office.
Safeguard your ears by understanding causes
Can you reverse noise-induced hearing loss? Regrettably not. Although you can successfully treat this type of hearing loss and any related tinnitus, it has no cure. Strategies developed to keep your hearing safe will be more successful the better you understand the mechanisms behind hearing loss.
Although this research is promising, we still have a ways to go. But we seem to be getting closer to understanding. On an individual level, it’s important to take measures to safeguard your hearing and check in with your hearing specialist.