Tinnitus – or ringing in the ear – and even hearing loss may be related to some cases of long-lived COVID-19, reveals a worrying new study.
The survey found that 14.8% of people infected with the bug suffer from tinnitus, 7.6% had hearing loss and 7.2% developed vertigo, the sensation of spinning.
University of Manchester audiologists, Professor Kevin Munro, director of the Manchester Center for Audiology and Deafness, and PhD researcher Ibrahim Almufarrij, found 56 studies that identified a link between COVID-19 and hearing and vestibular problems, according to Sky News.
The vestibular sensory system includes parts of the inner ear and brain that process the information involved in controlling balance and spatial orientation.
“If it is correct that something between 7% and 15% is showing these symptoms, this is something that we must take very seriously,” said Munro, who gathered data from 24 of the studies, in the media.
“There are major implications for clinical services if it means that there could be a huge increase in the number of people who come forward,” added Munro, whose findings were published in the International Journal of Audiology.
Hearing problems can be caused by a number of viruses, including measles, mumps and meningitis, which damage the inner ear’s sensory cells – but it’s unclear why COVID-19 can also cause these problems.
“There are some people who say that the symptoms continue. There are others who say it seems to have calmed down a bit, so there are a lot of things unknown now, ”Munro told Sky News.
The recent suicide of Texas Roadhouse founder and CEO Kent Taylor, who suffered from long-standing COVID-19, drew attention to hearing problems linked to the deadly virus.
Paul Johnson, 53, who was admitted to a hospital in December with COVID-19, has suffered from tinnitus ever since.
“It’s a persistent, high-pitched whistle you hear,” he told Sky News.
“Something I could compare would be if you had water running through a pipe, passing through a valve, but you turned it slightly to get a kind of ‘shh’ – a whistle sound, but with a much higher frequency than that” , he added.
Johnson said he noticed the annoying sound two weeks before he was admitted and that it got worse.
“You notice a lot at night, when there is no noise around you, there is no background noise, the TV is off and you have this constant hissing noise,” he told the outlet.
“I think that at the moment I would consider it manageable. I can’t say it keeps me awake, but I certainly hope it doesn’t get any louder or more noticeable, ”added Johnson.
The researchers’ data mainly used self-reported questionnaires or medical records to obtain symptoms related to COVID-19, rather than more scientifically reliable hearing tests.
Munro suggested that tinnitus can also be caused by real damage to the ear, such as noise or infections, to psychological triggers, such as stress and anxiety.
So while there may be reasonable hypotheses demonstrating how COVID-19 can directly damage a person’s hearing, he said the current evidence is not of a quality good enough to prove causation, according to the New Atlas.
“It is possible for the virus to attack and damage the auditory system,” he said. “On the other hand, the mental and emotional stress of the pandemic can be the trigger. But we need to be careful when interpreting these results, as it is not always clear whether studies are reporting existing or new symptoms. What is missing are good quality studies that compare tinnitus in people with and without COVID-19. “
They are now conducting a more detailed clinical study that they hope to accurately estimate the number and severity of coronavirus-related hearing disorders in the UK.