The Surprising Link Between Diabetes and Your Ears

Signs of hearing loss

Hearing loss caused by diabetes is sensorineural, meaning it is permanent but can be treated with hearing aids.

Because hearing loss tends to develop gradually, you may not notice it at first — or other people might pick up on your hearing loss before you do, says audiologist Kathy Dowd, executive director of the Audiology Project, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about the link between chronic diseases like diabetes and hearing and balance disorders.

Signs of hearing loss to watch out for include:

• Asking others to repeat themselves, or thinking that others are mumbling
• Difficulty following group conversations
• Trouble hearing in noisy places, such as restaurants
• Problems hearing small children or people with quiet voices
• Increasing the TV or radio volume too loud for those around you 

Take charge of your hearing

Left untreated, hearing loss can lead to feelings of depression and anxiety and cause trouble communicating with your family, colleagues and health care providers.

Ways to monitor and protect your hearing include:

1. Getting regular screenings with an audiologist. The CDC recommends that you have your hearing tested by an audiologist when you are first diagnosed with diabetes, followed by yearly tests thereafter as part of your overall diabetes care schedule. "You can't see blood pressure; you can't see high blood sugar. You have to test for it," Dowd says. "And it's the same thing with hearing — you have to test for it."
   
   
2. Sharing results from your audiologist with the rest of your primary care team.
   
   
3. Protecting your ears. Wear ear protection when needed, like around leaf blowers or at sporting events, and avoid using cotton swabs or other implements to clean your ears.
   
   
4. Monitoring your blood sugar.
   
   
5. Not delaying treatment for any hearing loss you’re already experiencing. "The earlier you take care of [hearing loss] and the more proactive you are, the better," Lanter says.

Sarah Elizabeth Adler joined aarp.org as a writer in 2018. Her pieces on science, art and culture have appeared in The Atlantic, where she was previously an editorial fellow, California magazine and elsewhere.