Most individuals have experienced a temporary loss of hearing or ringing in the ears after attending a loud rock concert, fireworks celebration or flying in an airplane. The common condition, known to medical professionals as Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS), occurs when the delicate hair cells of the inner ear are overworked and become fatigued. Recovery times vary from a few hours to as many as 72 hours before normal hearing returns.

Recently, researchers at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Quebec have discovered that daily consumption of caffeine can prevent hearing from returning to normal after exposure to loud noise. According to the research, caffeine from even one cup of coffee can prevent your hearing from returning to normal after an episode of TTS. Dr. Faisal Zawawi, an otolaryngologist and member of the McGill Auditory Sciences Laboratory, said his researchers suspected certain substances hindered the body’s ability to repair hearing after an episode of TTS. The researchers tested their theory on three groups of guinea pigs. In the study published in April 2016 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), one group was exposed to 110 decibels (dB) of sound, a level equivalent to the noise of most concerts. The other two groups of guinea pigs were also exposed to 110 dB as well as the human equivalent of 25 mg of caffeine, an amount found in an average cup of caffeinated tea or espresso. The guinea pigs exposed only to sound regained their hearing by day eight. Those who were exposed to sound and caffeine never fully regained their hearing.

So do you have to give up your cup of coffee to protect your hearing? Not necessarily. Fortunately, there are preventive measures to protect your hearing such as limiting your exposure to noisy environments, or employing the use of foam earplugs to minimize loud noise levels.

Content provided by HealthyHearing