Did COVID-19 Cause Your Hearing Loss?

Could COVID have caused your hearing loss?

Hi guys. Rachael Cook, doctor of audiology at Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona, and in today's video, I'm going to be answering the question, did COVID cause your hearing loss? Coming up...

We can all recall the impact that COVID had from the start of 2020 and over the following years. Researchers estimate that nearly 775 million people across the world had COVID infections at some point with nearly 7 million deaths attributed to it.

For most people, life has largely returned back to normal over the last few years, but COVID still remains, especially for those who not only experienced the severe acute respiratory syndrome, but who also experienced the post-infection symptoms known as long covid.

We already have several research studies to suggest that for some people the symptoms of long covid impact various organ systems such as the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, renal, and neural systems.

But over the last few years, researchers have noticed a disturbing trend that links COVID to hearing loss as well as sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

As the name suggests, sudden sensorineural hearing loss is the rapid development of significant hearing loss typically in one ear. This symptom is often accompanied by tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing sound, as well as hypersensitivity to sound, and in some cases vertigo.

If you or someone you know has experienced sudden sensory neural hearing loss, then you know just how distressing this condition can be. This is especially true if the lost hearing isn't recovered even with prompt medical treatment, as is the case in nearly 50% of circumstances.

This became particularly alarming when this previously rare condition started increasing significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

In my own personal experience working at an ENT clinic during 2021 and 2022, I probably saw almost one case of sudden sensorineural hearing loss a day. And this took me by surprise when my schooling suggested that this condition was so rare that I'd be seeing it maybe once a month or so.

The ENT physicians that I worked with were also floored at the rise in sudden hearing loss, going from nearly a few cases a month to a few cases a week pretty much overnight.

And while sudden hearing loss can happen to anybody, young adults between the age of 20 to 40 seemed to be the group that was most affected. Over the past few years And even with the reduced rates of severe infections, the connection between COVID and sudden hearing loss hasn't seemed to reduce at all.

I still probably see at least one case a week of sudden hearing loss that is oftentimes but not always proceeded by a COVID infection in about the prior six months or so, and this is about the only factor that seems to have any sort of association as sudden hearing loss generally tends to occur pretty randomly. It often occurs in one ear or another and is nearly equal across age and gender.

And unfortunately, there is no real way to prevent this from happening. This is because researchers have long suspected that the most likely culprit is a bacterial or viral infection that attacks the inner ear.

In particular, the inner ear has already been proven to be susceptible to paramyxoviruses, such as measles, mumps, and Pneumovirus, herpes viruses like HSV one and two, as well as chickenpox and shingles, and both hepatitis and influenza viruses.

Inflammation from viral and bacterial meningitis also have strong correlations with sudden and severe levels of hearing loss.

That being said, we already know that many different illnesses can cause terrible symptoms of which sudden hearing loss is included, but is there really an association between COVID and hearing loss too?

Before I answer that question, I would really appreciate if you could give this video a thumbs up to bring videos like these to a wider audience. And while you're at it, if you have not yet already, go ahead and hit that subscribe button with notification bell so that you never miss any one of our newly released videos. We really appreciate it.

And according to a recent research article out of South Korea, the answer to that question is yes.

This research study published July of 2024 completed a population-based study among young adults to look at the association between COVID-19 and hearing loss, including sudden hearing loss.

This study focused primarily on young adults aged 20 to 38 years old without any history of hearing loss who tested positive for COVID using oral or nasal swabs. They then followed this group of over 6.5 million from July of 2022 through December of 2022.

After accounting for all demographic, physiological and lifestyle covariates, they found that the risk of hearing loss and sudden sensorineural hearing loss after COVID infection was significantly higher.

In fact, compared to those who were never infected, those who recovered from COVID were 3.4 times more likely to experience hearing loss and 3.5 times more likely to experience sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

And this association is echoed to a degree in countless research studies over the past three years or so that can all seemingly agree that hearing loss can be a secondary symptom of COVID.

Now, does this mean that just because you get COVID means that you will end up with hearing loss? Of course, not just as is true with any other illness, how COVID affects you will look entirely different than how it ends up affecting somebody else.

And this is due to countless factors such as genetics, age, immune system function, environment, and more. And unfortunately, proactive prevention of COVID infection via vaccinations doesn't necessarily guarantee that you won't experience these conditions either.

There are reports of sudden hearing loss occurring after several different vaccinations, including influenza, meningitis, tetanus, and even rabies. Sudden hearing loss after COVID vaccination has also been reported.

However, the overall incidence is very low and has not yet been found to be any higher than it is for any other type of vaccination. Many public health agencies will continue to confirm that the benefits of immunizations far outweigh any of the potential risks.

However, this is for you to decide based on your own circumstances, as it is not in my scope of practice to be making a recommendation one way or the other.

But there are, of course, other ways to prevent experiencing the risks of COVID infection. First, practice good hygiene, like washing your hands after using the restroom and before eating, and be sure to cover your coughs and sneezes.

Second, boost your immune system by eating a healthy diet, getting good sleep, staying hydrated and exercising regularly. And third, disinfect commonly touched surfaces and avoid contact with people who you know are sick.

But what should you do? If you experience hearing loss symptoms of any kind, but especially a sudden hearing loss, be sure to see an audiologist for an urgent hearing evaluation.

This testing can confirm if there's been any damage to your hearing, including the type and severity of your hearing loss.

This should be followed by a visit with an ear, nose, and throat physician or a general practitioner. As soon as possible, they can review your case and potentially prescribe at steroids that are either taken orally or injected through the eardrum.

These interventions have an urgent treatment window of just two weeks, so be sure to relay the severity of the situation when you're trying to get scheduled. And if your doctor's office says that you can't be seen for a while, try a different office.

But what if you already experienced sudden sensorineural hearing loss that you weren't able to treat in time or that didn't respond to treatment, leaving you with permanent hearing loss in one ear?

Well, you've got a few options here. One option is to treat your hearing loss using a hearing aid depending on the level of your hearing loss and your word understanding ability.

A hearing aid can be programmed to return missing sound information so that you can hear and understand more easily in the ear that experienced the hearing loss.

However, some cases of sudden hearing loss are so severe that treatment with a traditional hearing aid is ineffective. In this case, you may have to consider CROS treatment.

CROS stands for contralateral routing of signal and consists of wearing two devices, a standard hearing aid worn on your better ear, and a transmitter that looks like a hearing aid worn on your bad ear.

The CROS transmitter collects sound coming from the side of the poorer ear and wirelessly transmits it to be heard from the hearing aid in the better ear. This allows you to hear speech and sounds coming from your bad side, especially in environments when turning to listen might not be entirely possible, like if you're driving in a car or if you're seated in a row.

Another option to treat an ear that can't use a traditional hearing aid is getting a cochlear implant. Now, I'm not gonna get into details about how a cochlear implant works, but in general, a cochlear implant can restore hearing in a deaf ear by stimulating the auditory nerve directly using electrical impulses.

This option is more invasive, but it can be incredibly successful when it comes to restoring hearing in an otherwise deaf ear.

But for a deeper dive on each of these treatment options after experiencing sudden hearing loss, be sure to check out these videos that will be linked down in the description below.

Overall, the association between hearing loss and COVID is still being investigated, and it will require more studies over the coming years to know what to do to prevent it from happening to you.

In the meantime, do what you can to avoid getting COVID and talk to your doctor about the benefits and risks of COVID vaccination.

If you experience a sudden hearing loss, be sure to see a doctor who specializes in the ears straight away for urgent evaluation and treatment.

But if your hearing does not recover and your hearing loss remains permanent, be sure to see an audiologist to review your treatment options so your sudden hearing loss doesn't negatively impact your life.