Hearing Loss and Smoking
If you have been investigating the many reasons to stop smoking you are probably well aware of all of the health problems caused by smoking. This might mean that you are aware of the effects of smoking on blood vessels, but did you know that the constriction of blood vessels due to smoking also causes hearing impairment?
Unfortunately, this is not the only way that smoking causes hearing damage. For one thing the primary chemical component in a cigarette is nicotine. This targets the reward pathways of the brain, but it is also known as an ototoxic drug. This variety of drug is a direct cause of hearing disorders, dizziness, vertigo and tinnitus. These conditions have a great deal to do with the inner and middle ear, and when the cigarette smoking is already constricting blood supply to the region the problems are quickly amplified.
Speaking of amplification, the primary cause of hearing loss in most populations is exposure to loud noise. Over the past decades younger groups of people are experiencing noticeable hearing loss due simply to the prevalence of personal sound systems, car stereos and increasing numbers of vehicles and traffic. When someone is a smoker their ears are made even more sensitive to the effects of loud noise. This means that someone who blasts their car stereo as they smoke a cigarette is going to notice even more damage to their hearing than the non-smoker who enjoyed the amplified music.
Another way that smoking is known to create hearing loss is in the creation of “free radicals” which are cellular waste products created by chemical processes in the body. If free radicals make their way to any part of the ear this is going to lead to damage, particularly to the microscopic hairs that line the inner ear. Such damage can lead to the inability to detect certain frequencies or to permanent hearing loss altogether.
All of this adds up to the fact that smoking is an all around bad idea, and that it impairs all of the major senses. That’s right! Smoking dulls the taste buds and the sense of smell, it can cause visual disorders, and it also hurts the hearing. Add to that the fact that it makes circulation poor, and you could reasonably say that it also inhibits the sense of touch too. These are all excellent reasons to make the choice to begin a smoking cessation program today.
