Remember the old tale of Johnny Appleseed? When you were younger you probably heard the tale of how Johnny Appleseed journeyed around providing fresh apples to communities (the moral of the story is that apples are healthy, and you should eat them).
Actually, that’s not the entire truth. The real Johnny Appleseed (whose real name was John Chapman) did indeed bring apples to many states across the country at about the end of the 19th century. But apples weren’t as yummy and sweet as they are now. In fact, they were mostly only utilized for one thing: creating hard cider.
That’s right. Johnny Appleseed was providing booze to every community he visited.
Alcohol and humans can have a complex relationship. On the one hand, it’s bad for your health (you will frequently experience some of these health problems right away when you feel hungover). On the other hand, humans typically enjoy feeling intoxicated.
This behavior goes back into the early mists of time. Humanity has been imbibing since, well, the beginning of recorded history. But it may be possible that your hearing issues are being exacerbated by alcohol consumption.
In other words, it isn’t just the loud music at the bar that can cause hearing troubles. It’s also the drinks.
Drinking alcohol causes tinnitus
The fact that alcohol triggers tinnitus is something that hearing specialists will generally validate. That shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to accept. You’ve most likely experienced “the spins” if you’ve ever drank too much. That’s where you get really, really dizzy and the room feels like it’s, well, spinning (particularly with your eyes closed).
When alcohol interferes with your inner ear, which is the part of your body responsible for balance, you may experience the”spins”.
And what other function does your inner ear play a part in? Hearing, of course! Which means that if you’ve had the spins, it’s not surprising that you may have also experienced a buzzing or ringing in your ears that are characteristic of tinnitus.
Ototoxic compounds, including alcohol, will cause tinnitus
The word ototoxic may sound scary, but it just indicates something that can be damaging to your hearing. The whole auditory system from your ears to your brain is involved in this.
Here are a number of ways this can play out:
- Alcohol can impact the neurotransmitters in your brain that are in charge of hearing. So your brain isn’t working properly when alcohol is in your system (both decision making regions, and hearing centers are impacted).
- Alcohol can damage the stereocilia in your ears (these are fragile hairs that let you sense vibrations in the air, vibrations that your brain later converts into sound). Once those tiny hairs are damaged, there’s no coming back.
- Alcohol can reduce flow of blood to your inner ear. The lack of blood flow can itself be an origin of damage.
Drinking-related hearing loss & tinnitus aren’t always permanent
So if you’re out for a night on the town or getting some drinks with some friends, you may notice yourself developing some symptoms.
These symptoms, luckily, are generally not permanent when related to alcohol. Your tinnitus will usually go away along with most of your hearing loss when your body chemistry goes back to normal.
Of course, the longer alcohol is in your system, the longer it will take your ears to return to normal. And if this type of damage is repeated routinely, it could become irreversible. In other words, it’s definitely possible (if not likely) that you can cause both permanent tinnitus and hearing loss by drinking too much and too often.
Some other things are occurring too
It’s not just the alcohol, of course. There are a couple of other elements that make the bar scene somewhat more unfriendly to your ears.
- Noise: Bars are usually rather noisy. That’s part of their… uh… appeal? 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. All of that loudness can, over the years, cause damage to your hearing.
- Alcohol leads to other problems: Even when you put the hearing loss factor aside, drinking is pretty bad for your health. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure can be the outcome of alcohol abuse. And all of these problems can inevitably be life threatening, as well as worsen more severe tinnitus symptoms.
In other words, the combination of the environment and the alcohol make those late night bar trips a powerful (and risky) mix for your ears.
So should you stop drinking?
Naturally, sitting in a quiet room and drinking by yourself is not at all what we’re advocating. The root problem is the alcohol itself. So you may be doing considerable harm to your health and hearing if you’re having a hard time moderating your drinking. You should talk to your doctor about how you can get treatment, and start on the path to being healthy again.
If you’ve noticed a loud ringing in your ears after heavy drinking, make an appointment with us for a consultation.