This is a common concern for patients this time of year. It’s an interesting phenomenon, so let’s discuss why hearing can sometimes seem worse in the warm summer months.
Congestion and Allergies
Wandering around Sacramento Botanical Garden is a dreamy way to spend a summer day, but if you have allergies, it can cause a lot of discomfort. In midsummer, pollen is flying, triggering allergic reactions for many people.
Allergy symptoms predominantly reside in the nose and sinuses, but your ears are intimately connected to your sinus system via the Eustachian tubes, which connect them. When your sinuses swell, it can block the Eustachian tubes, causing pressure and fluid to build up in the middle ear and leading to a “plugged” feeling or even muffled hearing.
Increased Noise Exposure
In contrast to the quiet winter months, summer is filled with noise: yardwork, DIY house projects, road construction, fireworks, concerts, sports events and more. Prolonged or sudden exposure to loud, high-decibel sounds can leave your ears ringing and temporarily (or permanently) damage your hearing.
Moreover, if you already have hearing loss and struggle with hearing in noisy settings, you may be feeling this more than usual. Daily listening becomes a lot harder when the ambient sound throughout the whole world seems turned up.
Impact on Hearing Aids
If you wear hearing devices, hot weather poses extra challenges. While modern hearing aids are designed to be durable, prolonged heat can degrade batteries or warp the casing, and humidity and sweat can enter microphone ports. All of these factors together can cause static, muffled sound quality, improper seal, sound distortion, battery issues or device malfunctions.
To combat this, we recommend bringing your hearing aids in for a service appointment during the summer months to stay ahead of summer hearing aid hazards. Call us to make an appointment. And if you aren’t currently wearing hearing aids and feel it’s time to get your hearing tested, there’s no time like the present. Schedule a hearing test with us today.