The underlying basis of noise-induced hearing loss might seem well-founded. After all, the name itself suggests a fairly straightforward cause-and-effect relationship. The universal understanding is simply that loud sounds damage the hearing mechanisms in the ear, resulting in long-term and permanent hearing loss.
And while that’s accurate, the mechanisms underpinning that cause have not always been so well established. That’s changing, thanks to emerging research into the role of zinc regulation after exposure to loud noises. This research suggests that there’s an important connection between zinc and hearing loss.
What is zinc? And how does it impact hearing impairment?
Zinc is a mineral needed for carrying out necessary bodily functions and the majority of people have plenty of it. Healthy levels of zinc are connected with a well-functioning immune system and play a role in how well your brain translates chemical signals. In most instances, a person’s diet supplies plenty of zinc.
At first, it may be challenging to determine the connection between hearing loss and zinc. After all, it isn’t immediately obvious what role zinc plays in your hearing. However, a unique experiment has shed some light on what’s happening.
Researchers exposed mice to loud noises and conducted a few analyses afterward. In mice, as with humans, the sensitive mechanisms of the ear become damaged when exposed to loud sound. For humans, sound will initially become temporarily muffled. This will become more acute and more permanent as chronic noise exposure continues. This damage can’t be healed in either humans or mice.
Researchers also took blood samples from the mice and noticed some interesting results in terms of free-floating zinc.
Does zinc help or cause hearing loss?
Scientists now have a greater understanding of how the symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss occur because of these results. Usually, when zinc is in the body, it’s bound molecularly. Researchers detected zinc in free-floating form when the experiment’s mice were subjected to loud noise. Zinc most likely responds the same way in humans.
The free-floating zinc causes damage to sensitive portions of the inner ear that are crucial in order to hear clearly. Scientists are now thinking that this is one of the mechanisms that produces hearing damage due to noise exposure.
Treating hearing loss
In the future, this type of understanding could help scientists stop noise-induced hearing loss from ever happening, even in those people who are often exposed to loud noises. However, it may be some time before those advancements become a viable reality. But there are still other ways to protect your ears.
So, you might be wondering: how can I prevent noise-related hearing loss?
There are a number of approaches you may utilize to protect your ears:
- Limit your exposure to loud sounds: Sporting events, concerts, and jet engines fall into this category. But there are some more commonplace noises that can cause hearing loss that may be surprising, and that includes things like a leaf blower, traffic, or people talking loudly in a bustling office.
- Consistently check in with your hearing specialist: Undergoing a hearing test (and routinely checking in with us) can help detect damage early.
- Wear hearing protection: Ear muffs and ear plugs can help your ears manage loud environments that you can’t, or don’t want to avoid. If you go to that concert, for example, use a set of ear plugs to ensure you can still hear, but that your ears don’t become permanently damaged as a consequence.
Safeguard your ears by understanding causes
Can noise-induced hearing loss be reversed? Sadly no. Though you can effectively treat this type of hearing loss and any associated tinnitus, it has no cure. Better understanding the causes of hearing loss and the mechanisms by which hearing loss works can help hearing specialists (and you) formulate better techniques and treatments tailored to keep your hearing safe.
This research is likely just the first step in a longer undertaking. 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.
