There are many different drugs that can cause hearing loss.
Hearing damage can come from certain life-saving antibiotics. Cancer drugs come with this risk as well. People with kidney damage might suffer from hearing loss because of diuretics.
But is there anything medical science can do about drug-induced hearing loss?
Treatment Options
Some types of medication can damage the inner ear. Unfortunately, it currently isn’t possible to re-grow those cells.
Drugs can cause sudden or gradual hearing loss. Sometimes, your hearing keeps getting worse even after you stop taking the drug that caused it.
It isn’t always possible to avoid drugs that damage your hearing. After all, some of these drugs can save your life.
However, researchers are working on solutions to this problem. They believe it is going to be possible to eradicate drug-induced hearing loss.
So what are the main goals of this research?
- Explaining Drug-Induced Hearing Loss
First, it is crucial to understand how this hearing damage happens. The mechanisms that let you hear are very delicate. Medication can damage it in many different ways.
- Identifying Treatments
In some cases, it’s possible to take additional medication that will reduce the harmful side-effects. However, scientists need to make sure this doesn’t ruin the positive effects of the drugs.
- Finding Alternatives
It’s also possible to replace drugs that cause hearing loss with better options.
In the past, people with chronic pain lost their hearing in many cases. This happened because they only treated their pain with aspirin. Very large doses of aspirin can damage the inner ear.
But this rarely happens anymore. After all, there are better pain management options available now.
