People that live with rheumatoid arthritis can attest to how difficult it is to do everyday activities when they have this disease. The autoimmune disorder occurs when your immune system attacks your own body’s tissues. Unfortunately, this is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect more than just your joints, including your skin, lungs, heart, blood vessels, eyes and even your ears.
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The inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis can damage other parts of the body as well, and even though there are various medications that can improve a person’s life, there can still be some physical disabilities. Hearing loss is one of the most common forms of disabilities among people with rheumatoid arthritis, affecting 25-72% of the cases. Possible problems can include Synovial destruction of incudostapedial and incudomalleolar joints, rheumatoid nodules, auditory neuropathy, destruction of the cochlear hair cells and drug-induced ototoxicity.
Hearing loss symptoms include:
- Having trouble hearing people with small voices
- Require repetition
- Things sounding muffled
- Have your TV up on high
- Ringing in your ears
- Read lips and faces more intently
- Feel stressed that you can’t hear what others are saying
- Answer inappropriately in conversations
A recent study by Amir Emamifar, Kristine Bjørndal and Inger Marie Jensen Hansen demonstrated that elderly patients and those that have lived with the disease for several years are more likely to develop a hearing impairment. Some of the environmental factors that can contribute are smoking, alcohol, and noise can worsen the condition. Even passive smokers are at risk for hearing impairment.
