Remember the old story of Johnny Appleseed? When you were younger you most likely heard the story of how Johnny Appleseed traveled around bringing fresh apples to communities (the moral of the story is that apples are healthy, and you should eat them).
That’s only somewhat true. 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 yummy and sweet as they are now. In fact, they were generally only used for one thing: producing hard cider.
That’s right. Johnny Appleseed was delivering booze to every community he visited.
Humans have a tricky relationship with alcohol. It’s not good for your health to start with (you will frequently notice some of these health issues right away when you feel hungover). But many people enjoy getting buzzed.
This isn’t a new thing. People have been imbibing since, well, the beginning of recorded time. But if you have hearing issues, including tinnitus, it’s likely that your alcohol intake could be creating or exacerbating your symptoms.
So when you’re at the bar, loud music isn’t the only danger to the health of your hearing. It’s also the cocktails.
Drinking alcohol causes tinnitus
The fact that alcohol triggers tinnitus is something that hearing specialists will usually verify. That isn’t really that difficult to accept. You’ve most likely experienced “the spins” if you’ve ever had too much to drink. That’s where you get really, really dizzy and the room feels like it’s, well, spinning (especially when you close your eyes).
When alcohol interferes with your inner ear, which is the part of your body responsible for balance, tinnitus can manifest.
And what other role does your inner ear play a part in? Naturally, your ability to hear. So if alcohol can produce the spins, it isn’t hard to believe that it can also generate ringing or buzzing in your ears.
Ototoxic substances, including alcohol, will trigger tinnitus
Now there’s a scary word: ototoxic. But it’s really just a fancy term for something that damages the auditory system. This includes both the auditory nerves and the inner ear, essentially everything that connects your whole auditory system, from your ears to your brain.
There are several ways that this occurs in practice:
- Alcohol can degrade the stereocilia in your ears (these are little hairs that allow you to sense vibrations in the air, vibrations that your brain later translates into sound). Once those delicate hairs are compromised, there’s no coming back.
- There are neurotransmitters in your brain that deal with hearing which can be damaged by alcohol. So your brain isn’t functioning efficiently when alcohol is in your system (clearly, decision-making centers are impacted; but so, too, are the parts of your brain responsible for hearing).
- Alcohol can decrease flow of blood to your inner ear. This in itself can become a source of damage (most parts of your body don’t especially like being deprived of blood).
Tinnitus and hearing loss caused by drinking are often temporary
So if you’re out for a night on the town or having some drinks with some friends, you might notice yourself developing some symptoms.
The good news is that these symptoms (when they are caused by alcohol intake) are normally short-term. As your body chemistry goes back to normal, you’ll most likely start to recover some of your hearing and your tinnitus will wane.
Of course, the longer alcohol is in your system, the longer it will take your ears to return to normal. And it may become permanent if this type of damage keeps happening continually. 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 occurring too
It isn’t just the booze, however. The bar scene is not hospitable for your ears for other reasons also.
- Alcohol leads to other problems: Drinking is also detrimental to other aspects of your health. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure can be the outcome of alcohol abuse. And more severe tinnitus symptoms as well as life threatening health concerns could be the outcome.
- Noise: The first is that bars are typically, well, noisy. That’s part of their… uh… appeal? But when you’re 40 or older it can be a little bit much. There’s loud music, loud people, and lots of yelling and mary-making. All of that noisiness can, over the years, cause damage to your hearing.
The point is, there are serious hazards to your health and your hearing in these late night bar visits.
Does that mean it’s time to quit drinking?
Of course, we’re not suggesting that drinking by yourself in a quiet room is the answer here. It’s the alcohol, not the social interaction, that’s the source of the problem. So if you’re having trouble moderating your drinking, you could be creating significant issues for yourself, and for your hearing. Your doctor can help you move towards living a healthier life with the right treatment.
If you’ve detected a loud ringing in your ears after heavy drinking, make an appointment with us for a consultation.
