Diabetes gets spoken about a lot. Usually in the context of blood sugar, insulin, diet, maybe long-term heart or kidney risk if things spiral. What rarely enters the chat is hearing. Not instinctively, anyway. Hearing loss tends to get filed under ageing or too many loud concerts. But that neat separation is not entirely accurate.
In an Instagram post shared on February 13, US-based physician specialising in anaesthesiology and interventional pain medicine, Dr Kunal Sood, pointed out that diabetes carries its own, often overlooked, association with hearing decline. Quietly. Gradually. Easy to miss if you are not looking for it.
Does diabetes cause hearing loss?
Short answer, it can. According to Dr Sood, research shows people with type 2 diabetes commonly develop mild, high-frequency hearing loss, with risk rising over time, particularly where glycaemic control is poorer. In other words, the longer blood sugar stays elevated, the more strain gets placed on delicate systems, including those involved in hearing.
He frames it as part of diabetes’ microvascular footprint. Not just an age-related shift, but a complication linked to how chronically high glucose affects small blood vessels and nerve structures throughout the body.
“When people think about diabetes complications, hearing rarely comes to mind. Most of the focus stays on the heart, kidneys, and nerves, so this connection is often missed,” Dr Sood said, highlighting how the conversation tends to overlook sensory impact altogether.
He also points to prevalence data that feels harder to ignore. Research estimates hearing loss occurs in roughly 40.6 per cent to 71.9 per cent of people with type 2 diabetes. A wide range, yes, but still substantial. The impairment, he notes, is typically mild and tends to affect higher frequencies first, which makes it less obvious in day-to-day settings.
How diabetes may affect your hearing over time
Early hearing changes do not always show up as volume loss. More often, clarity dips first. Conversations feel slightly muffled. Background noise becomes harder to filter. Dr Sood explained it this way: “Over time, diabetes can affect the tiny blood vessels that the inner ear depends on. Chronic hyper disrupts blood flow and metabolic support of the cochlear (cochlea). The high-frequency region is particularly vulnerable, which helps explain the pattern seen on hearing tests.”
That vulnerability sits in the cochlea, the inner ear structure responsible for translating sound vibrations into nerve signals. It relies heavily on steady blood flow and metabolic support. Disrupt either, even subtly, and function begins to slip. Risk climbs with longer diabetes duration and persistently elevated glucose levels. The evidence base is largely observational, and early shifts can fly under the radar, but the pattern holds consistently enough for clinicians to treat hearing impairment as another microvascular complication in the diabetes spectrum.
Why blood sugar control still sits at the centre
Which brings the conversation back to management. Not gadgets. Not supplements. Core metabolic control. “This is exactly why lowering A1C (also known as HbA1C, a blood test that reflects your average blood glucose levels over the past 3 months) is critical. And one of the best ways is to understand exactly what raises your glucose,” Dr Sood recommended.
HbA1C acts as a longer-term snapshot of glucose exposure. The higher it runs, the more cumulative stress lands on blood vessels, nerves and sensory systems, including those tied to hearing. So while hearing loss may not headline diabetes discussions, the biological link is plausible, increasingly documented and clinically relevant. Another reminder, really, that glucose control is not just about preventing the obvious complications. It is also about protecting the quieter systems that rarely get attention until something starts to fade.
Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purposes only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.
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