Rheumatoid Arthritis and Hearing Loss

What’s the connection between arthritis and hearing loss? Well, that’s exactly what we are going to discuss in this article – the continued study of links between rheumatoid arthritis and hearing loss. We will also explore other types of arthritis and the medical consequences of arthritis and hearing loss connections!

What Do We Know About the Connection Between Arthritis and Hearing Loss?

When looking at the connection between arthritis and hearing loss, we must look to pain medication, not the arthritis itself. Pain medications are often prescribed in high dosage for people who experience arthritis, so that they can go about their daily lives without too many interruptions.

However, high doses of pain medications can cause odd side effects, and some side effects of arthritis medication can include hearing loss. There have been studies over the last decade on almost 100,000 people who were taking varying levels of arthritis medication and the results clearly indicate that these two things are linked together.

In addition to the medications involved in severe arthritis, there are also links between the autoimmune attacks on the joints that some people with arthritis experience and hearing loss. Autoimmune diseases can cause hearing loss across the board, and this includes arthritis!

What About Inflammatory Arthritis?

Inflammatory arthritis can also cause hearing loss. There are tiny bones inside your ear that can become inflamed, just like any other bones in your body. This inflammation can cause hearing loss and other complications too.

Rheumatoid Nodules in the Ears

Rheumatoid nodules, which are small, firm bumps that appear on the skin close to the joint that is inflamed from arthritis, can form within the ears too. This pressure can cause hearing loss, in combination with the inflammation of the inner ear bones and potential medical-related hearing loss too.

How Can We Prevent Arthritis from Affecting Our Hearing?

If you have arthritis or already have hearing loss, you might want to know how to prevent all this from happening. Of course, prevention is the best form of attack. If you want to prevent your arthritis from getting worse, thus incurring the need for further medication, you should move your body regularly and eat healthily to prevent too much weight gain.

Additionally, you should discuss your arthritis medications with your doctor or audiologist to try to find a balance between effective pain relief and hearing health.

Is Arthritis-Induced Hearing Loss Permanent?

This depends on the cause of your hearing loss. If the hearing loss is being caused by medication, then it is likely to go away by changing your medications or coming off them altogether at the recommendation of your doctor.

If inflammatory arthritis or rheumatoid nodules are the cause of the hearing loss, things can be a bit more complicated. If your arthritis is not solved by medical intervention, then it is likely that your hearing loss will also stick around.

How Can an Audiologist Help?

If you have concerns or questions about arthritis and hearing loss, and the links between them, you should definitely contact our audiologists for a face-to-face appointment. Speaking with a professional about your concerns can assess your worries and equip you with awesome knowledge that will help you find the best solution for your health.

Your audiologist can:

• Discuss hearing loss prevention with you, so that your arthritis side effects aren’t compounded with other hearing loss causes.
• Help you to come to terms with any hearing loss you are experiencing, both emotionally and physically.
• Offer you a hearing aid style, such as a behind the ear (BTE), in the ear (ITE) or an in the canal (ITC), that can help you socially and professionally while you are experiencing hearing loss.
• Examine your ears in full to determine the true cause of the hearing loss.
• Answer any questions you have about rheumatoid arthritis, other types of arthritis or autoimmune reactions and hearing loss.
• Debunk myths and assess any worries you have accumulated from Googling your symptoms too much!

An audiologist is the first number you should dial when you have questions about hearing loss! Don’t hesitate to contact Hearing & Balance Services of Reston at (703) 297-8715 today! We will be glad to help you!