We all feel stressed from time to time. Maybe you have a big exam coming up at school, or you’re hosting a large group of people for the holidays. Occasional stress isn’t usually a big deal, though it can affect your mood and sleep. But chronic stress can take a toll on your long-term health.
Long-term exposure to stressors keeps your stress response system in a constant state of activation and overexposes you to stress hormones, such as cortisol. That physical reaction disrupts the natural processes of your body, leading to an increased risk of physical and mental health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), stroke, weight gain, digestive issues, sleep problems, anxiety and depression.
One result of stress that we often overlook is hearing damage.
How Does Stress Damage Hearing?
One of the central theories explaining why stress may damage hearing is related to its impact on blood pressure. Your ears rely on a steady supply of blood to function. When stress causes high blood pressure, the increased pressure can run through the ears, potentially damaging the delicate structures and accelerating the degeneration of the hearing apparatus during the aging process.
How Can I Protect My Hearing?
Minimizing the stress in your life is one way to protect against hypertension-induced hearing loss. Try a few of the following:
- Uncover the cause of stress. Sometimes, the cause of chronic stress isn’t always clear. You might feel on edge at work or home and not understand why. Next time you feel stressed, take a look at your environment and ask yourself what factors might be contributing to your stress. Understanding the cause of your stress is the first step to addressing it.
- Engage in stress-relieving activities. Too many of us forget to include stress-free activities in our daily schedules. That’s because it’s easy to fill your life with work, chores and other responsibilities. Take a look at your schedule and see if anything on your to-do list isn’t necessary right away. If you have any unnecessary chores, remove or reschedule them for another time and replace them with something you find relaxing. That could be reading a good book, taking a yoga class, going for a jog around Prentis Park or watching a silly feel-good movie.
- See a mental health professional. If stress is plaguing your life, it might be time to see a mental health professional. They can help you uncover the reasons behind your stress and teach you effective coping methods.
If you’re worried about the effect stress has on your hearing, contact Ear, Nose & Throat Consultants today. We can conduct a hearing test to give you some peace of mind. If you have hearing loss, we’ll find you the perfect hearing aids to help you navigate the world calmly.