The word psoriasis usually conjures up images of people with skin trouble like the people on all those commercials. Psoriasis affects your overall health and not only your skin. Psoriasis is frequently misunderstood and minimized, due to a lack of knowledge of how psoriasis impacts sufferers as well as the serious conditions that can be related to this disorder. Although plaques on the skin are its most visible symptom, they’re indicative of what psoriasis can cause in the whole body: Continuous Irritation that can raise the danger of metabolic conditions and cardiovascular disease.
A new study enhances the body of research connecting another serious issue to psoriasis: Hearing loss. Published in The Journal of Rheumatology, this study looked at connections between psoriatic arthritis, mental health, and hearing impairment. Psoriatic arthritis has an affect on the joints, and is a kind of psoriasis, causing inflammation, soreness, and difficulty with movement. The normal plaques may not be experienced by people who suffer from psoriatic arthritis.
With psoriatic arthritis, the body is basically targeting its own healthy cells in the same way that it does with rheumatoid arthritis because they are all autoimmune illnesses. But as opposed to rheumatoid arthritis, you could have psoriatic arthritis on only one knee due to the fact that it’s asymmetrical, and that besides joints, it commonly targets sufferer’s nails (leading to painfully swollen toes and fingers) and eyes.
Based on the findings of this recent study, swelling caused by psoriatic arthritis might also impact hearing. A large control group of individuals with neither psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis were compared to people who had one or the other problem. They found that the group with psoriatic arthritis was more likely to have hearing impairment, and those reports were backed by audiometric screening. Even when other risk considerations are taken into consideration, people diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis were significantly more prone to suffer from loss of hearing than either {the control group or psoriasis sufferers}.
But that’s not to say there’s no connection between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and loss of hearing. A 2015 study found that individuals who have been diagnosed with psoriasis are at a significantly higher danger of developing sudden sensorineural loss of hearing, generally known as sudden deafness. With sudden sensorineural hearing loss, people’s ability to hear diminishes significantly in three days or less. There are several possible causes for this, but experts hypothesize that individuals who have psoriasis are at higher risk due to the kind of fast inflammation that occurs during a flare-up of psoriasis symptoms. The hearing may be impaired if this takes place near or in the cochlea. In some cases, treatments that decrease psoriasis symptoms may be used to target this form of hearing loss, but hearing aids are often recommended when sudden deafness does not respond to other treatments.
If you suffer from psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis, it’s worthwhile to monitor your hearing. Plan your yearly healthcare appointment along with normal hearing exams. The inflammation from these diseases can lead to injury of the inner ear, which can lead to loss of balance and psoriatic arthritis. psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis are both also connected with depression and anxiety, which can both aggravated hearing loss. Hearing loss is a condition you want to catch early because untreated loss of hearing can result in other health issues like dementia.
With early treatment, you can stay ahead of the symptoms by having your hearing examined periodically and cooperating with your doctor, awareness is key. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your quality of life for psoriasis or for hearing loss, and having the correct team on your side can make a huge difference.
