A new study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital indicates that women may increase their risk of losing hearing if they take acetaminophen (commonly sold as Tylenol) or ibuprofen at least twice per week. Aspirin did not appear to cause these effects. The study also found that the risk of hearing loss became greater as more pain medications were ingested per week.

According to the researchers behind the study, the greatest risks are adherent to women who take ibuprofen at least six days per week, as well as women under the age of 50. The results may not come as a huge surprise to some, however, as researchers have previously shown that serious overuse of over-the-counter pain medication can play a part in things as severe as stroke and organ failure. It’s of the utmost importance to take even the most common drugs only as directed.

Pain Relief – But at What Cost?

During the new study, Dr. Sharon G. Curhan and a team of other researchers gathered painkillers and hearing loss data collected between the years of 1995 and 2009 as part of the Nurses’ Health Study II. Roughly 10,000 of the 62,000 women studied in the survey reported hearing loss.

Women who took ibuprofen twice or three times weekly instead of once weekly or less often increased their risk of hearing loss by 13%, according to the study.

Women who took acetaminophen twice or three times weekly instead of once weekly or less often increased their risk of hearing loss by 11%, according to the study.

Most alarmingly, women who took either pain reliever over five days per week increased their risk of losing hearing by up to 24%.

How Common is Hearing Loss?

A recent nationwide survey performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that at least half of adults over the age of 60 experience some level of hearing loss, which can reduce an individual’s ability to carry on a normal conversation and reduce quality of life in other ways. The most common form of hearing loss is an increasing difficulty hearing high-frequency sounds.

Previous studies have indicated that older men are more likely to have hearing deficiencies than older women. Still, roughly 66% of women in their 60s and 33% of women in their 50s have some level of hearing loss.

The Relationship Between Pain Medication and Hearing

According to Dr. Curhan, frequent use of common pain medications could be one of several factors that lead to a deterioration in hearing. One potential reason for this could be that pain medications inhibit the flow of blood to the cochlea, a tiny organ in the inner ear partially responsible for hearing.

Other factors more widely accepted by the medical community as painkillers and hearing loss factors include prolonged exposure to loud sounds. As with virtually all conditions, genetics could be to blame as well.

Limitations of the Study

University of Maryland School of Medicine otolaryngologist Dr. Ronna Hertzano believes that the study isn’t strong enough to support the findings. She said that the researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital did not run actual hearing tests on the participants, and instead relied on self-reported data in the form of a single-question survey. Further, she argued that hearing loss is subjective in lieu of actual diagnostic testing, and that many individuals over the age of 50 have mild to severe hearing loss whether they realize it or not.

Another limitation of the study was the fact that it did not account for why the women were taking pain relievers. According to Hertzano, it stands to reason that a person choosing to take a pain reliever on a near-daily basis would have some other underlying health issue – potentially one that could be associated with hearing loss.

For now, Hertzano believes that further studies should be performed before people decide to stop taking pain medications in order to reduce their risk of hearing loss.

Painkillers and Hearing Loss:The Bottom Line

Taking common pain medications like ibuprofen and Tylenol more frequently than twice weekly may increase your risk of suffering hearing loss, according to recent research by Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The full text of the study can be found online in the medical journal American Journal of Epidemiology.