Remember the old tale of Johnny Appleseed? When you were younger you probably heard the tale of how Johnny Appleseed journeyed around bringing fresh apples to communities (you should eat apples because they’re a healthy choice 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 many parts of the United States. But apples were really different way back then. They weren’t as sweet or yummy. In fact, they were generally only utilized for one thing: creating hard cider.
That’s right. Johnny Appleseed was delivering booze to every community he visited.
Alcohol and humans can have a complex relationship. It isn’t good for your health to begin with (and not only in the long term, many of these health impacts can be felt immediately when you spend the early morning hours dizzy, throwing up, or passed out). But many individuals enjoy getting buzzed.
This isn’t a new thing. Since humans have been recording history, people have been indulging in alcohol. But it could be possible that your hearing problems are being increased by alcohol consumption.
Put simply, it’s not just the loud music at the bar that’s bad for your hearing. It’s also the cocktails.
Drinking alcohol causes tinnitus
The fact that alcohol causes tinnitus is something that hearing specialists will usually confirm. That shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to accept. If you’ve ever imbibed a bit too much, you may have encountered something called “the spins”. When you’re dizzy and the room feels like it’s spinning after drinking this is what’s called “the spins”.
The spins will occur because the alcohol is interfering with the part of your body responsible for balance: your inner ear.
And what other function does your inner ear take a part in? Hearing, of course! Which means that if you’ve experienced the spins, it’s not surprising that you might have also experienced a ringing or buzzing in your ears that are characteristic of tinnitus.
That’s because alcohol is an ototoxic substance
Now there’s a scary word: ototoxic. But it’s actually just a fancy term for something that impairs the auditory system. The entire auditory system from your ears to your brain is involved in this.
Here are a few ways this can play out:
- The blood flow in your ear can also be reduced by alcohol. This by itself can become a source of damage (most regions of your body don’t really like being starved of blood).
- There are neurotransmitters in your brain that deal with hearing which can be harmed by alcohol. So your brain isn’t functioning properly when alcohol is in your system (clearly, decision-making centers are impacted; but so, too, are the parts of your brain in charge of hearing).
- Alcohol can degrade the stereocilia in your ears (these are fragile hairs that allow you to sense vibrations in the air, vibrations that your brain later translates into sound). These delicate hairs will never heal or grow back once they have been compromised.
Tinnitus and hearing loss caused by drinking are usually temporary
So if you’re out for a night on the town or having some drinks with some friends, you may notice yourself developing some symptoms.
These symptoms, luckily, are usually not permanent when related to alcohol. Your tinnitus will typically go away along with most of your hearing loss when your body chemistry goes back to normal.
Naturally, the longer alcohol is in your system, the longer it will take your ears to return to normal. And it could become irreversible if this kind of damage keeps happening repeatedly. So if you drink too much too frequently, permanent damage could possibly happen.
Some other things are occurring too
It isn’t just the booze, however. There are a couple of other elements that make the bar scene somewhat more unfriendly to your ears.
- Noise: The first is that bars are typically, well, noisy. Some of their appeal comes from…uh.. just this. But when you’re 40 or more it can be a little bit too much. There’s loud music, loud people, and lots of yelling and mary-making. Your hearing can be compromised over time by this.
- Alcohol causes other issues: Drinking is also detrimental to other facets of your health. Alcohol abuse can result in health issues such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. And more severe tinnitus symptoms as well as life threatening health issues could be the result.
The point is, there are significant risks to your health and your hearing in these late night bar visits.
So should you stop drinking?
Of course, we’re not implying that drinking alone in a quiet room is the answer here. It’s the alcohol, not the social interaction, that’s the source of the issue. So you may be doing considerable damage to your health and hearing if you’re having a hard time moderating your alcohol intake. You should talk to your doctor about how you can get treatment, and start on the path to being healthy again.
If you’ve detected a loud ringing in your ears after heavy drinking, schedule an appointment with us for a consultation.