Diabetes and hearing loss

Discover the diabetes-hearing loss link

Today marks the start of Diabetes Awareness Week, making this the perfect time to highlight the link between hearing loss and diabetes. 

Did you know that hearing loss is twice as common in adults with diabetes compared to those who don’t have the disease? While the cause of hearing loss here isn’t fully known, it’s widely thought that nerve damage is to blame.

The prolonged high blood glucose levels associated with diabetes may affect the supply of blood or oxygen to the nerves and blood vessels of the inner ear, in much the same way as diabetes damages blood vessels and nerves in other parts of the body.

The damage generally happens slowly, so hearing loss is gradual. You may not even notice it.

However, if you have diabetes and you’ve noticed you’re finding it increasingly difficult to follow conversations, your hearing seems muffled and you’re regularly having to turn up the volume on phones, TVs or radios, it’s likely that you’re affected by a hearing loss.

Take control of your hearing

Make Diabetes Awareness Week the turning point.
Book a hearing assessment with our friendly team and we’ll test your hearing, give you a full understanding of your hearing health and, where necessary, work with you to make a plan to enhance your hearing, whether through hearing aids or other approaches.

It’s important to know that, the sooner we can treat any hearing loss, the less impact it will have on your life.