How Allergies Affect Your Hearing Itchy eyes, congestion, sore throat, and … hearing loss?

Spring means allergies for many of us — but not so fast, homebodies and people living in colder climates. Indoor allergens abound.

Dust mites, pet allergens, mold, and plenty else can get your eyes itching, your nose running — and your ears plugged. In case you suspected it, your hunch is right: Allergies often impact your hearing.

What Is an Allergy?

An allergy is when your immune system overreacts to something your body perceives as threatening. The would-be threat is known as an allergen, and common ones include latex, pet dander, and peanuts.

When you encounter an allergen, your immune system goes into defensive mode and tries to attack the allergen.

But why would your body develop an allergy in the first place?

Immunoglobulin

When you’re first exposed to an allergen, your body produces lots of an antibody called immunoglobulin E (IgE). These antibodies attach to a specific kind of cell called a mast cell.

Now you’re sensitive to the allergen — in other words, you’re allergic — but you don’t experience symptoms yet. That IgE antibody is now, in a sense, “programmed” for that allergen.

The allergic response

The second time you encounter that allergen, whether by inhalation, ingestion, or through the skin, the allergic response kicks in. Any mast cell with that IgE antibody attached to it floods your system with histamine.

Histamine is a lot like a security guard — once released, it does what’s needed to remove the allergen.

You experience it as swelling, inflammation, itchiness, and excess mucus production.

But how does this cause hearing loss?

Seasonal Allergies and Hearing Loss

Because the allergic reactions that lead to hearing loss often involve seasonal allergies, let’s focus there.

Other allergies, such as those triggered by mold or pets, could also work as examples.

The outer ear

Let’s use pollen as our allergen example. We’ll begin with the effects on the outer ear.

Suppose pollen camps out in or near your ear canal. Histamines kick into high gear and try to send the allergen packing through inflammation, itching, and possibly swelling.

If the reaction is strong enough, the swelling or inflammation could block the sound waves that are trying to get to your eardrum. Hearing loss is the result.

The middle ear

Continuing with pollen as our allergen example, let’s look at the effects on the middle ear.

Let’s say that ne’er-do-well, pollen, lands in your nostril or nasal passage. Those histamines get cracking and try to hustle the allergen out of your system. Your old frenemies, inflammation and too-much-mucus, begin in earnest.

There is a tiny tube connecting your middle ear with your nasal-sinus cavity. It’s called a Eustachian tube, and it equalizes the air pressure in your ear, drains fluid, and protects your ear from picking up the various sounds inside your body.

Inflammation and mucus buildup can block this tiny tube. When that happens, you experience discomfort, hearing loss, and possibly even an infection.

The inner ear

Finally, continuing with pollen, let’s look at the effects of allergies on the inner ear.

That old rascal, pollen, lands in your nostril or nasal passage. Your trusty pals, histamines, launch into action and try to remove the allergen.

Inflammation and mucus enter the fray. These two culprits tend to worsen the symptoms of other inner-ear-related problems, such as endolymphatic hydrops. Now you have to deal with even worse hearing loss or tinnitus.

Allergies Can Affect Balance, Too

Your inner ear contains your vestibular system. It uses fluid, crystals, and specialized cells to keep your body balanced.

The fluid is very sensitive to pressure and chemical changes. It remains stable all day, except when you move your head, the barometric pressure changes, or gravity makes the fluid shift. The crystals and cells pick up those changes and send signals to your brain, which rebalances your body.

Remember the Eustachian tube in your middle ear? If it becomes partially clogged or fully blocked from mucus or inflammation, it changes the pressure in your ear, which affects the fluid in your inner ear.

If that happens, the crystals and cells have a harder time receiving balance information and sending it to your brain. This often leads to dizziness or vertigo. Inflammation alone could also cause enough changes in your inner-ear fluid to affect how well the crystals and cells receive and send balance information.

As you can see, it’s simple cause and effect — and the cause is usually inflammation, mucus, or a combination of both in the tiny passageways in your ears.

Allergies and Hearing Care

No two people experience allergies the same way.

But when you’re already battling a stuffy nose and sinus pressure, hearing and balance problems are unwelcome visitors. What, then, are your options if you do encounter these?

Luckily, the easiest way is also the obvious way — simply treat your allergy symptoms!

Your old friend the over-the-counter antihistamine should tackle your hearing and balance issues as it rids you of the mucus and inflammation. Staying hydrated should help break up all that excess mucus in your system, too.

If an antihistamine clears up your sinus symptoms but not hearing or balance issues, get your hearing checked out. Most of the time, inner-ear problems caused by allergies are temporary, but long-term damage is possible.

Contact us today if you think your hearing issue could be more than the temporary effects of allergies!