Can coronavirus cause hearing loss?

“And that’s going to confound our understanding of the difference between hearing loss that’s caused by a viral infection or hearing loss caused by the usage of an ototoxic medication that’s

given for therapeutic reasons,” says C. Matthew Stewart, M.D., associate professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a coauthor on the

aforementioned _JAMA_ study. What’s more, interruptions in circulation can lead to hearing loss and tinnitus, since the cochlea (the part of the inner ear responsible for hearing) is

highly vascularized, Sydlowski says, meaning it contains a lot of blood vessels. And mounting evidence suggests that COVID-19 is not just a respiratory disease, but also a vascular one, 

that can damage blood vessels and even lead to clots.  What don’t seem to affect hearing, however, are the COVID-19 vaccines, despite some reports linking them to sudden hearing loss.

Stewart and a team of experts, also at Johns Hopkins, combed through the data and found “there is no evidence that people receiving a COVID-19 vaccination are at higher risk of developing

sudden hearing loss than those who have not been vaccinated,” study coauthor Daniel Sun, M.D., said in a statement. While the researchers note that more studies are needed, they write that

they’re hopeful their findings “will reassure health care clinicians and patients to receive all scheduled doses of the vaccination as recommended by current public health guidelines.” 

MASKS MAGNIFY HEARING PROBLEMS  Other public health efforts put in place to help slow the spread of the virus, however, can play a surprising role in hearing problems. Rush University’s

Michaelides has seen a number of patients who say their hearing has worsened since the start of the pandemic. “It turns out that their hearing hasn’t changed,” but their ability to

communicate with others has, he says. And that’s because so many Americans are wearing face masks when they’re out in public. They’re also standing farther from each other to keep a safe

distance. “When you’re wearing a mask, it muffles your voice and sometimes can make it harder for other people to hear [you],” Michaelides points out. Masks also interfere with people’s

ability to pick up on visual cues when another person speaks.  “I’ve heard many reports with people saying, ‘You know, I didn’t realize how much I relied on lip reading,’ ” Sydlowski adds.

“So I don’t think that the pandemic, itself, caused that hearing loss, but it did bring it to people’s attention, much more than” before masks were commonly worn.