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As researchers continue to unravel the myriad of health issues people face after having COVID-19, tinnitus and hearing loss are emerging as possible bothersome symptoms for some.
Tinnitus – marked by a ringing, buzzing or hissing sound in one or both ears – in particular made headlines when Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain general manager Kent Taylor recently passed away by suicide after suffering from post-COVID symptoms, including severe tinnitus. There is also new research published in the International Journal of Audiology, which looked at data from 24 different studies and found an association between COVID-19 and hearing problems. Researchers have estimated that nearly 15 percent of people infected with COVID have had tinnitus, nearly 8 percent reported hearing loss, and more than 7 percent developed rotational dizziness, which leaves patients stunned as if they were on a merry-go-round.
Co-author of the study, Kevin Munro, Ph.D., professor of audiology at the University of Manchester in the UK, told Yahoo Life that the study shows that “the long-term consequences of COVID on health could be quite wide and extend well. beyond respiratory disease. While Munro stresses that “we need a definitive study to confirm” the research results, he says this is the “best estimate of the prevalence” of hearing problems after having COVID-19.
However, Deyanira Gonzalez, an audiologist at Baylor College of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life that tinnitus and hearing loss directly associated with COVID-19 has been “rare” – although developing hearing problems after certain illnesses, including measles, mumps and meningitis, is not unheard of. “Many viral infections can lead to hearing symptoms such as hearing loss and tinnitus,” says Gonzalez. “However, our understanding of the relationship between viral infections such as COVID-19 and the hearing system has evolved. At this point, the extent to which hearing loss and tinnitus is a direct result of COVID-19 is unclear.
Gonzalez explains that “Patients who come to our office reporting tinnitus and hearing loss in association with COVID-19 have expressed some variability in the severity of their tinnitus or in the length of time after it is noticed. In our experience, not all people who contracted COVID-19 reported hearing loss or tinnitus, so it was difficult to determine if these symptoms were really the result of COVID-19 or other factors. .
How COVID-19 could affect hearing
Patients with COVD-19 may develop tinnitus or other auditory symptoms due to “deregulation of the immune system due to the virus entering the neural pathways,” Gonzalez explains, while Munro explains that “some viruses damage delicate sensory cells in the ear and / or the auditory nerve. Munro adds, “For some people, it may not be damage from the virus, but related to other factors such as lifestyle changes.”
The length of time that COVID patients experience tinnitus also varies. “Some have reported that the tinnitus was short-lived yet symptomatic, [and] others have reported weeks or months of tinnitus after COVID-19, ”says Gonzalez. However, Gonzalez points out that not all people with COVID-19 suffer from tinnitus, and “it can be difficult to determine whether tinnitus is really the result of COVID-19 or other factors, such as existing hearing loss,” noise exposure, middle ear fluid, etc. Due to these other factors, research data has failed to truly identify COVID-19 as a factor that can cause permanent tinnitus. “
It should be noted that tinnitus itself is “incredibly common,” Dr. Maura Cosetti, director of the Cochlear Implant Center at the Ear Institute of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, told Yahoo Life, affecting about 50 million Americans. So it’s also possible that the patients had underlying hearing loss and “COVID may be an exacerbation of that,” Cosetti says.
Bthe best treatment options for tinnitus and hearing loss
If you have tinnitus or hearing loss, whether or not you’ve been infected with COVID-19, the first step is to get checked out by a doctor. That’s because “simple things can also cause tinnitus, like a buildup of earwax,” Cosetti explains. “Getting an assessment can be helpful as there are cases where the wax is pushed into your ears from the ear cups” which many of us wear during the day on video calls for work or school. Or there may be a structural abnormality in the ear. “Take an ear exam to make sure it’s not an immediately identifiable cause,” suggests Cosetti.
The next step is to take a hearing test. “Most people don’t experience hearing loss as hearing loss,” Cosetti says. “They feel like something is blocking their ear or they experience tinnitus, which results from damage to the inner ear. Some of these auditory nerve cells set off some sort of wake-up call – they’re stuck. It is often the experience of hearing loss. You may not have “hearing loss” per se. “
Other factors that can lead to tinnitus include noise exposure, middle ear infections, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, or certain medications, Gonzalez explains. “In case of sudden onset of tinnitus or hearing loss, it is strongly recommended to see an ENT doctor, as steroid treatment may be suitable,” says Gonzalez.
Cosetti points out that there is a link between tinnitus and depression and anxiety, and says “there is good evidence” that treating depression and anxiety can help the hearing problem. In addition to tinnitus retraining therapy, most tinnitus treatments involve cognitive behavioral therapy, which “focuses on reducing your perception of tinnitus and also your reaction,” Cosetti explains. This can be combined with other methods, including sound “masking” – i.e., using white or pink noise machines and applications or sleeping with the fan on – to reduce tinnitus noise, especially the sound of tinnitus. night when calm can make the condition more noticeable. Yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practice can also be “very effective,” Cosetti says.
But if the hearing loss doesn’t respond to medical treatment, Gonzalez says, “We often recommend the use of hearing aids, bone-anchored implants, or cochlear implants.”
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call 911, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or message HOME at the text line crisis at 741741.
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