A Possible Link Between Exercise & Reduced Risk for Hearing Loss

The benefits of exercise are more far-reaching than many first suspects. Your total health is interconnected, so making sure one aspect of your health is dealt with, can ensure that other areas benefit as well. For instance, aside from managing a healthy weight, and strengthening muscles, regular exercise ensures most aspects of your health are maintained and better protected. Regular exercise has been found to also decrease your risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, while keeping your mind sharper, helping your sleep better, improving your mood and reducing the risk of hearing loss.

The Link Between Exercise & Hearing Loss

It may make sense why exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure, but why hearing loss? To understand this, it’s important to understand exercise’s effect on the body. Regular physical activity not only makes your muscles stronger but your heart as well. A stronger heart can pump more blood with less effort and as a result, the force on your arteries decreases, lowering your blood pressure. Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, causes your blood vessels to be damaged. Blood vessels run throughout your entire body, including your ears. Your ears rely on a healthy supply of oxygen-rich blood to keep the inner ears healthy. When the blood isn’t received adequately, it can damage the tiny hair-like cells of the inner ear which transmit sound information to the brain. This can lead to permanent hearing damage.

Studies on Hearing Loss and Exercise

The Journal of Neuroscience conducted a study in 2016 to explore the connection between hearing loss and exercise. They studied the hearing of active mice and those who were sedentary and found that the hearing structures of mice who were sedentary were negatively affected. The sedentary mice had fewer nerve cells that send sound to the brain. However, the active mice in comparison had healthy hearing in 95% of the cases.

A similar study from The Johns Hopkins University examined human subjects. They found that seniors who exercised regularly also maintained healthy hearing habits. The seniors who completed low to moderate exercise activities for just three hours a week performed much better on hearing tests than those seniors who did not exercise at all. However, just 30 minutes of exercise daily had a significant impact on hearing health.

Healthy Hearing Habits During Exercise

Of course, there are many factors that can damage your hearing. For instance, you may have a very active lifestyle but not wear hearing protection when in potentially damagingly loud environments. You may have experienced head trauma at some point which has been known to cause damage. Practicing safe habits for your ears can ensure that your hearing can be clear for years to come. Music has been found to enhance motivation and performance during an exercise routine. 

If you listen to headphones when you exercise it’s important to make sure that you listen safely. Headphones can reach damaging levels rather quickly, so make sure to keep the volume no higher than 60% of its volume’s potential. It can be helpful to take listening breaks as well as it is not just the volume of sound that can be damaging but the length of exposure. If you choose to exercise in a noisy gym, it’s a good idea to know the level of sound, especially if you go every day. The decibel reading can be determined using many different apps available on Smartphones. If the decibel level is above 85dB in your gym, make sure to wear earplugs to lower it. Earplugs have the potential to lower the decibel level you are exposed to by 15-33dB.

If your exercise is mobile, such as skating or biking, it’s a good idea to wear a helmet. Not only does a helmet protect you from brain injury, but from hearing loss too. Head trauma is a significant cause of hearing loss which many, who engage in high-impact sports, such as football commonly suffer from.

Treating Hearing Loss

If you have recently committed to an exercise routine to protect your health, then no doubt you are feeling good and most likely extra motivated by the boost in mood and energy. If you do think you have hearing loss it is important to treat it as soon as possible. Schedule a hearing test right away, so you can deal with your hearing loss and get back to the active lifestyle you love.