How Does Weight Gain Affect Your Hearing?

Staying in shape has many health benefits. However, gaining weight can cause a wide array of health problems, and may even affect your hearing. Obesity may lead to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, poor blood flow, and even hearing loss in extreme cases.

In fact, the cochlea may be impacted due to the decreased blood circulation that is caused by obesity. The cochlea is responsible for not only accepting incoming sound waves, but for also sending nerve pulses to your brain so that you can identify what you are hearing.

Here, our focus will be on how weight gain can impact your hearing.

How Weight Gain Affects Your Hearing

Your organs can only function properly if good blood flow is involved. High blood pressure and subpar blood flow are often connected to obesity.

Obesity is linked to blood vessel contraction as well as high blood pressure, which will both negatively impact the circulation of blood in the body.

A drastic reduction in blood circulation can severely harm the cochlea, thus leading to permanent hearing loss in some cases.

Can losing weight improve your hearing?

Weight loss has been linked to an increased metabolism. A balanced diet combined with a regular exercise regime can help manage blood pressure, diabetes, and other obesity-related disorders and symptoms.

Given the fact that weight loss is connected to increased blood flow, losing weight can actually enhance your hearing.

Studies have shown that people who eat a nutritious diet and who exercise regularly are less likely to suffer from heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke, and even certain forms of cancer.

How can you lose weight?

Drinking green tea may help speed up your metabolism and promote satiety. Getting a good night’s rest may also help you lose weight and reduce fatigue, depression, irritability, and anxiety.

Soluble fiber is very good for your health, and will also promote regularity. Junk food, such as chips, chocolate, and soda, should be avoided if you want to lose weight.

It is also very important that you drink plenty of water. Most doctors recommend that you drink between 6 to 8 glasses of water per day.

Sparkling water should be avoided, as it has high pH acidity levels that can erode your enamel and cause tooth sensitivity. People who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome should also avoid sparkling water, as it may increase gas and bloating.

Protein and vegetables are important staples of a healthy diet, while saturated and trans fats should be avoided whenever possible. Try to avoid foods that are high in starch and empty carbohydrates, such as bread, white rice, and pasta.

By limiting the amount of unhealthy and processed food that you consume and by exercising every day, you should be able to lose weight over time.

Ways to Deal With Hearing Problems

If your ears are blocked due to ear wax, then you should remove the ear wax. Do not use Q-tips, as they will simply push the ear wax deeper into your ear canal. A doctor may need to use specialized instruments in order to remove deep and hardened wax from your ears.

If you have been dealing with excess fluid buildup and persistent ear infections, then your doctor may insert tiny tubes into your ears in order to facilitate the drainage process. Certain forms of hearing loss can also be successfully treated via surgical intervention.

If you are currently dealing with abnormalities involving the bones that are crucial for hearing (ossicles) or your eardrums, then surgery can help rectify the problem.

Hearing aids can help treat hearing loss issues, provided they are caused by inner ear problems or damage. Open fit hearing aids are a very popular choice because they offer a wide array of impressive features and are also quite comfortable to wear.

Choosing a hearing aid can be difficult, so please speak to an audiologist in order to discuss your unique needs and preferences.

Cochlear implants are often considered when the hearing loss suffered by the patient is quite severe. A cochlear implant will bypass the damaged sections of your inner ear in order to stimulate the hearing nerve directly.

Taking the First Step

Excess weight gain has been linked to hearing loss and a wide array of other serious medical health problems and conditions. If you have noticed changes in your hearing, then you should see your doctor right away.

They will administer hearing tests in order to identify the source of your hearing loss or condition. There are also online hearing tests that you can take from the comfort of your home in order to identify a plethora of hearing problems.

Failure to diagnose and treat a hearing problem or condition may lead to permanent hearing loss, so we advise you to seek professional help as soon as possible.

 

Source:

Hearing loss – Diagnosis and treatment – Mayo Clinic