Dangerous Link Between Smoking and Hearing Loss

If you need hearing aids or hearing tests, we at the Soundwave Hearing Care clinic in the Calgary and Grand Prairie area are here to help.

We provide the latest hearing aid and audiology services so you can get your life back on track, even if you've had hearing loss.

At Soundwave Hearing, we like to educate our patients about their hearing's role in their overall health. Did you know, for example, that, in addition to cancer, lung disease and heart disease, smoking has also been proven to have a strong correlation with hearing loss?

How can smoking affect my hearing?

Cigarettes contain a lot of powerful and harmful ingredients and give off a lot of dangerous fumes. Tar, carbon monoxide, arsenic and ammonia are just a few of the dangerous things you put in your body when you smoke. The effects of cigarettes are so powerful, in fact, that there are few parts of your body not damaged by them. Nicotine and carbon monoxide, for example, both deplete oxygen in your blood and constrict your blood vessels, including those in your inner ear. This reduction in oxygen and blood to important parts of your body greatly contribute to hearing loss in later life.

What are the effects of smoking on hearing?

Studies show that smokers are 70% more likely to suffer hearing loss in their lives than non-smokers. Furthermore, people who are not even smokers themselves, but who live with smokers are twice as likely to develop hearing loss later in life. The effects of cigarette smoke are so powerful and long-lasting that teens exposed to cigarette smoke in their youth are also more likely to have hearing loss. Because they are exposed to harmful chemicals while their bodies are still developing, the effects of those chemicals can last a lifetime.

What can I do to protect my hearing?

The best way to protect your and your loved ones' hearing is to quit smoking as soon as possible. It's easier said than done, but the improvement to your long-term health as well as how healthy you feel right now will be worth it. If you have been a smoker and are already experiencing hearing loss, don't despair. It's never too late to make things better. You just have to start acting inyour own best interest now. With a hearing device, you can regain much of the hearing loss you've experienced.

If you think that you've been experiencing hearing loss and want to find out more about what you can do to get better, we at Soundwave Hearing Care can help. We offer hearing aids and tests at our clinic in Calgary. With the latest in hearing aid technology and audiology advice for an expert, you can start to live your life again. Contact us today to find out more.