There is a proven connection between menopause and hearing loss based on a few studies. However, the research is still an ongoing process. If you have been facing hearing troubles since you hit Menopause or are on the verge of Menopause, you are reading the right article.
I am Dr. Karen Pike. I help menopausal women identify and mitigate the effects of their pre-, post, and peri-menopausal symptoms. My insights can help you live a stress-free, healthier menopausal journey ahead.
Any advice I share with you is purely based on my and my team’s inside-out research on Menopause and a careful study of key observations made by understanding actual patient experiences via consultations. I will talk about the impact of Menopause on your hearing abilities in this article.
The Relationship Between Menopause and Hearing
In this section, I will help you understand the primary reasons affecting hearing in the pre-, post, or peri-menopausal period.
Menopause causes several changes in the body of a woman and can be a very challenging phase to deal with. Mood fluctuations, anxiety, adult acne, increase in skin dryness, dryness in the vagina, and more such symptoms can be physically and psychologically upsetting.
Your sex life can also get deeply affected during the menopausal, peri, or post-menopausal phase. It can worsen your mood apart from causing extreme physical discomfort.
Coming to the impact of Menopause on your ears! Itchy ears are another lesser-known symptom that can lead to increased irritability. Here is how to stop itchy ears Menopause. Menopause can also trigger ringing in the ears or tinnitus, pain in the ears, or extreme dryness in the ears, greatly degrading your overall ear health and, even worse – your hearing abilities.
Why is Menopause linked with hearing inefficiencies in women?
In this sub-section, I will discuss how estrogen is related to hearing problems in menopausal women.
Do you know how collagen levels in your skin fall with aging? Similarly, a gradual decrease in estrogen levels during the years leading up to Menopause is considered to be the key reason for hearing problems in most women.
Estrogen is crucial in protecting your inner ear. When the estrogen levels go down, the blood flow to the cochlea of your ear is disrupted. Also, the weakening of estrogen receptors in auditory nerve and ear cells due to Menopause can negatively impact your hearing abilities. Even generally, women with lower estradiol levels, which is an estrogen derivative, are more susceptible to experiencing hearing issues or hearing loss.
Now, your ear health can also deteriorate simply with age. Most women experience Menopause in their late 40s or early 50s. So, have you considered the “Age” factor? Since hearing issues are a lesser-known symptom of Menopause, it is important to rule out aging as a direct cause of ear problems. It is, therefore, advisable to consult an audiologist to know if your hearing loss is due to Menopause or aging.
From a scientific point of view, a delayed natural menopause lowers the risk of hearing due to a delay in estrogen fall. However, there is not much medical literature to support this. According to this experiment, women who experienced Menopause at a much older age were at a higher risk of hearing loss. So, the topic is quite debatable, demanding more research. I would make my analysis based on individual menopausal journeys.
Your doctor will be the best person to evaluate your ear health based on your specific menopausal symptoms and previous medical history, including the outcomes of your hormone therapy treatment if you are taking any.
Symptoms of Menopausal Hearing Loss
You must know how menopausal hearing problems manifest so you can treat them the right way. I will explain the major symptoms in this sub-section of the article.
Hearing loss can be embarrassing as it limits or restricts your ability to listen to those around you and also process important information. You may experience the following symptoms due to menopausal hearing problems:
- Headaches and pain in your ears
- Slightly impaired hearing in the initial phase
- Ringing or buzzing sensation in ears, also known as tinnitus
- Blocked ears
- Muffled hearing
- Vertigo
- Extremely itchy ears
- Sudden and complete hearing loss
Preventing and Treating Hearing Loss due to Menopause
In this section, I will help you understand how to prevent hearing loss as well as how to mitigate its effects in case you are already affected by it.
Prevention is always better than cure. However, preventing hearing loss with Menopause and mounting age can be tricky. Many women opt for HT or hormone therapy to treat the various common side effects experienced during Menopause.
This report by the National Library of Medicine highlights the negative impact of oral hormone therapy on ear health and hearing abilities in menopausal women. This means your mode of delivery or method of hormone therapy (oral, transdermal, EPT, progesterone-only oral HT, and more) will eventually determine the risk of hearing loss. Also, prolonged exposure to hormone therapy could be responsible for aggravating hearing loss in menopausal women.
However, extensive studies to evaluate a direct correlation between hormone therapy and hearing loss in women are a work in progress. Nevertheless, a good hygiene practice is to regularly get your hearing tested if you are under hormone therapy. And make sure your progress is constantly assessed and supervised by your doctor.
The most underrated way to have a healthy pair of ears when you are approaching Menopause is to invest in a sustainably healthy lifestyle. This includes the following changes in your daily routine, and it is the least you can do to maintain good hearing:
- Regular exercise, yoga, and meditation for stress relief is a must.
- Monitoring your heart health and ensuring you consume nutrient-dense foods
- Monitoring and controlling blood pressure to prevent damaging the blood vessels carrying blood to your ears
- 4. Stay away from high-decibel, noisy places, high volume music/videos to prevent noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)
- Avoid excessive drinking and smoking, as drinking is harmful to your inner ear’s hair cells, affects the auditory cortex in the brain, and triggers tinnitus and spinning motion. Whereas smoking reduces the supply of oxygen in your blood, thanks to nicotine and carbon monoxide. It shrinks your blood vessels, eventually interrupting blood flow to the inner ear and causing hearing loss
- Check for vitamin deficiencies, especially B12, and take the required vitamin supplements regularly. Defective neurons in the cochlear nerve can trigger hearing loss due to a lack of adequate B12 levels in your body. If you’re considering nutritional support during menopause, reading independent reviews of menopause supplements
- can help you compare different options before making a decision.
- If you have diabetes or pre-diabetes, it makes sense to control your weight, insulin, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels, as diabetic women in the menopausal stage are at a relatively greater risk of damaging their hearing abilities.
- The risk of hearing loss also increases multifold with the presence of various autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis. I would advise you to get comprehensive health check-ups every 3 to 4 months.
Regarding treatment, your exact stage of Menopause will also help the doctors determine the right treatment approach for you. The prescriptions will differ from one patient to another based on the symptoms and menopause timelines. So, I often tell my patients to trust the process and not compare their progress or treatment outcomes with other women.
Conclusion
If you are on hormone therapy or HT, I would recommend being in constant touch with your doctor. It is advisable to keep monitoring your hearing abilities as long as you are on external hormone medications.
Also, estrogen in an external form can put you at an increased risk of endometrial cancer unless you have had a hysterectomy. So, let your doctor take charge of your journey and help you make progress with minimal risks.
Last but not least, your hearing aids will be your best friend throughout this tough journey of yours in case you have already started experiencing hearing troubles. Embrace them, mitigate them, and follow your doctor’s advice at all times to steer clear of uncalled-for ear problems in the future!
