The underlying foundation of noise-induced hearing loss may seem well-founded. After all, the name itself indicates a fairly straightforward cause-and-effect relationship. Our fundamental understanding is that irreversible hearing damage is a result of exposure to overly loud noise over a long period of time.
Though we’ve known this for some time now, we haven’t perfectly understood the inherent mechanisms behind it. That’s improving, thanks to emerging research into the role of zinc management after exposure to loud sounds. This research suggests that there’s an important link between zinc and hearing loss.
What is zinc? And how does it impact hearing impairment?
Zinc is a mineral needed for executing necessary bodily functions and the majority of people have plenty of it. Zinc helps your brain translate chemical signals and is connected to immune system functions. With a few exceptions, most people receive plenty of zinc from their food every day.
At first, it might be difficult to see the connection between hearing loss and zinc. After all, it’s not immediately obvious what role zinc plays in your hearing. However, a novel experiment has shed some light on what’s going on.
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 fragile parts of the ear become damaged. In humans, this may first be experienced as a temporary muffling of sound. As an individual is continually exposed to loud sound, this damage will become more severe and lasting. This damage can’t be healed 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 better understanding of how the symptoms of noise-related hearing loss happen because of these results. Normally, when zinc is in the body, it’s bound molecularly. Researchers detected zinc in free-floating form after the experiment’s mice were exposed to loud noise. It’s likely the same thing happens in humans.
The free-floating zinc triggers damage to sensitive portions of the inner ear that are essential in order to hear clearly. This is the mechanism that scientists now believe leads to the type of damage that causes noise-related hearing loss.
Managing hearing loss
In the future, this type of understanding may help scientists stop noise-related hearing loss from ever occurring, even in those people who are often exposed to loud noises. However, it may be some time before those developments become a viable reality. But there are still other ways to safeguard your ears.
So, you might be asking: how can I prevent noise-induced hearing loss?
There are several strategies you can use to protect your ears:
- Routinely check in with your hearing specialist: Undergoing a hearing test (and routinely checking in with us) can help detect damage early.
- Use hearing protection: Ear muffs and ear plugs can help your ears manage noisy settings that you can’t, or don’t want to stay away from. A pair of earplugs can, for example, allow you to attend that loud concert and still be able to hear the music but also offer some protection against permanent hearing loss.
- Regulate your exposure to loud sounds: This clearly includes noises like jet engines, concerts, or sporting events. But there are some more commonplace noises that can cause hearing loss that might be surprising, including things like a leaf blower, traffic, or people talking loudly in a bustling office.
Understand the causes, protect your ears
Can noise-induced hearing loss be reversed? Sadly no. This form of hearing loss and tinnitus can’t be cured, though it can be managed very effectively. 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 designed to keep your hearing safe.
Although this research is promising, we still have a ways to go. But every bit helps. Your direct role is to get your hearing evaluated and use ear protection.