Having diabetes can put you at risk for other serious health issues, including heart disease, vision problems and nerve damage. One condition that diabetes patients and doctors alike often overlook? Hearing loss.
What the Statistics Show
According to the Centers for Disease Control, hearing loss is about twice as common in adults with diabetes as it is in those without the condition. In addition, adults with prediabetes are 30% more likely to experience hearing difficulties than those with healthy blood sugar levels.
How Diabetes Can Affect the Inner Ear
Scientists believe diabetes can damage the tiny blood vessels and nerves that help the inner ear function properly. Healthy hearing depends on a steady supply of oxygen-rich blood reaching specialized sensory cells deep inside the ear. Over time, elevated blood sugar levels can injure these blood vessels, reducing circulation and affecting the ear’s ability to process sound efficiently.
Diabetes-related nerve damage may also play a role. Just as diabetes can affect nerves in the hands and feet, it may also interfere with the nerve pathways responsible for carrying sound signals from the ear to the brain. When those pathways do not function properly, understanding speech becomes harder.
Signs That Are Easy to Miss
One of the biggest challenges with hearing loss is that it develops so gradually that small changes can be difficult to recognize.
Signs you might have hearing loss include:
- Asking people to repeat themselves more often
- Struggling to follow conversations in noisy restaurants
- Frequently turning up the television volume
- Friends or family members suggesting you might have hearing loss
Because these changes happen slowly, hearing loss can remain untreated for years, leading to poorer communication, relationships, social activity and quality of life.
Make Hearing Health Part of Your Diabetes Care Plan
If you have diabetes, you’re likely already taking steps to manage your condition that also help preserve your hearing, such as keeping blood sugar levels within a healthy range. This prevents nerve damage throughout the body, including to your ears.
But you should also consider hearing care as another important piece of your overall wellness strategy. A simple hearing evaluation can establish a baseline and identify changes early, allowing you to receive more timely treatment.
Sometimes the most valuable health screenings are the ones you weren’t expecting to need, and a hearing test may be one of them. Ready to schedule yours? Give our friendly audiology team a call to book an appointment or learn more about our hearing care services.