When Medicine Harms: Understanding Ototoxic Medications and Your Hearing Health

What is Ototoxic Medication? 

Could your medicine cabinet be harming your hearing? That's the critical question we explore in this eye-opening discussion about ototoxic medications with audiologist Dr. Jill Copley.

Many people are unaware that common medications—from everyday pain relievers to life-saving antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs—can potentially damage hearing. Dr. Copley breaks down the science behind this phenomenon, explaining that "oto" refers to the ear while "toxic" means poisonous. These medications, while treating various conditions, may inadvertently harm the delicate structures responsible for hearing and balance.

We dive deep into specific examples, revealing how high doses of common drugs like aspirin can trigger tinnitus (ringing in the ears), while powerful antibiotics like streptomycin and gentamicin may cause permanent hearing loss. Dr. Copley shares practical advice for patients, emphasizing the importance of bringing complete medication lists to healthcare appointments and promptly reporting any hearing changes to physicians. She reassures listeners that in many cases, medication adjustments can protect hearing while still effectively treating underlying conditions.

The conversation highlights the crucial role audiologists play in identifying potential medication-related hearing issues and coordinating with physicians to protect patients' hearing health. Through real patient stories and expert insights, this episode provides a valuable roadmap for anyone concerned about the intersection of medications and hearing health.

Have you noticed changes in your hearing after starting a new medication? The information in this episode could be life-changing. Share your experiences with us, and if you're experiencing hearing concerns, contact a qualified audiologist for a comprehensive evaluation.

To learn more about Total Hearing Care visit:
https://www.TotalHearingCare.com

Total Hearing Care
Multiple Locations Across the DFW Metroplex
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Total Hearing Care Difference where we
help you experience lifethrough better hearing.
Hosted by the experts at TotalHearing Care, a leading private
audiology practice serving theDFW Metroplex, we're here to
provide guidance on hearing loss, tinnitus and the latest
advancements in audiology.
Transform your life throughbetter hearing.

(00:23):
Let's get started.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Some medications do more than treat.
They can actually harm yourhearing.
Learn what ototoxic reallymeans and how to protect your
ears while managing your health.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host andproducer, back in the studio
today with Dr Jill Copley.
Dr Copley, how's it going?
It's going wonderful.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Thank you, Sophia.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
It's very great to hear that, Dr Copley, and so
glad to have you back on Now.
This isn't a type of medicationwe hear about very often, so
can you give us an explanationabout what ototoxic medication
is?

Speaker 3 (01:14):
Okay, that's a great question.
Ototoxic oto means ear, toxicmeans like a poison, so ototoxic
means that it's being poisonousto the ear.
So many medications will therewhen they treat the illness.
What they're doing is they maynot only treat the illness, but

(01:36):
they may affect the rest of thebody, and so when we talk about
ototoxic medications today,we'll talk about those kinds of
medications that are treatingmore severe kinds of illnesses,
cancers, things like that.
They're much strongermedications than we tend to
think of as just things we maytake over the counter for a cold

(01:58):
or for sinus infection orsomething like that, and so
these will affect the whole bodyand can affect the ears as well
as the balance system.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Wow, so does Odo by itself mean poison.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
No, odo means ear, it's the toxic part, that means
the poison.
So ototoxicity means thatsomething has been affecting the
ear, oto that has been damaging.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Now, why would an audiologist be interested in
knowing a patient's medicationlist?
Getting into this topic deeper,yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
so that was always a good question for my patients.
They'd ask why do you need toknow my medications?
And I think it's importantbecause so many medications or
combining medications couldaffect their hearing and their
balance and many people will goto several different doctors and
get medications.
So I like to look at themedication list just to see if

(03:02):
anything stood out that could beaffecting the issues they were
describing to me and that way Icould refer them back to their
physician.
As an audiologist, I'm notgoing to prescribe any
medication and I can't tell thepatient how to take a medication
.
Only a medical physician can dothat.
But I could certainly look andsee if anything seems suspect to

(03:27):
me that I thought they shouldtalk to their physicians about.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Now, when you ask them about the different things
that are in their medications,what are some key components
that you look for?
That would signal a red flag.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
So one of the things that a patient might describe to
me is that they have reallyloud ringing in their ears.
Well, one of the things I wantto look at as their medication
list are are there medicationsthat tend to cause ringing?
So one of the common ones couldbe just aspirin or aspirin-like

(04:05):
products like ibuprofen orAleve.
So those taken at regular dosesusually don't cause any effects
on the auditory system, but ifthey're taken in high doses they
could.
So if you're taking severaladult doses of aspirin a day,
you may end up getting someringing, and so I would ask them

(04:26):
is your physician recommendingthis much of a dosage?
If so, and it's causing ringingand it's bothersome to you,
then you should ask yourphysician to see if there might
be a different class ofmedication, because there's so
many medications out there thatcan do the same thing, and so
it's worthwhile to talk to thephysician.

(04:47):
There are some other seriousmedications that could be on
there.
Let's say, if somebody hascancer and they're taking
certain cancer drugs, that couldaffect their hearing and their
balance as well as affectringing in their ears.
Of course, with those kind ofmedications, usually a physician
is going to let the patientknow ahead of time that that

(05:08):
could happen.
But it's important for peopleto let their patient know ahead
of time that that could happen.
But it's important for peopleto let their physicians know if
that's happening, just because,again, there's so many different
classes of medications that cantreat the same thing.
Sometimes you'll have differentside effects and we want to
protect the hearing when we can.
Sometimes you can't.
Sometimes these are life anddeath drugs and you have to take

(05:31):
it to live, to get rid of theinfection or to get rid of the
cancer, but sometimes physicianscan change things for you.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Wow, now, if you stop a medication, will you get your
hearing back and will tinnitusstop?

Speaker 3 (05:46):
Sometimes that will happen.
So, as with aspirin, that'susually a pretty easy one.
If you lower the dose or stopit, it could decrease your
tinnitus or stop it altogether.
However, again, I'm not aphysician, so I don't want
anybody to think they shouldstop any medications based on
this little talk.
They should ask their physicianprior to that.

(06:09):
There are other medications,including what we call loop
diuretics, and loop diureticsare something like Lasix.
Usually, when you take Lasix byitself, it doesn't affect you,
but when you take it with somedifferent other medications it
may cause ringing or somehearing loss.
And typically when you stopthose other medications or stop

(06:32):
combining those two medications,your hearing or ringing can get
better.
But there are medications wherethey could cause permanent
hearing loss.
And those are what I call thelife and death drugs, and those
are things like streptomycin.
That drug has been used fortuberculosis.
It can cause severe andpermanent hearing loss,

(06:57):
vestibular issues like dizzinessor vertigo, as well as tinnitus
.
Gentamicin is another drug fordifficult bacterial infections
and it specifically can reallyaffect the balance system and
cause a lot of dizziness andvertigo for you, as well as some

(07:17):
hearing loss.
So it really depends on themedication, and that's why it's
important to let your physicianknow as soon as you notice any
of these symptoms, so that theycan review it and see if there's
something they could do.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Now how should I talk to my physician if I think my
medicine is causing hearing lossor tinnitus?

Speaker 3 (07:42):
I think it's best just to bring it up and just say
you know, this is one of myquestions.
It's always important to takequestions to your physicians.
It's always important to takeyour full medication list from
any physician you're seeing, aswell as supplements, and that
way they can look and see whatyou mean.
Important to take your fullmedication list from any
physician you're seeing, as wellas supplements, and that way
they can look and see what youmean.
You could say you know, myaudiologist told me that these

(08:04):
medications might be causingthis.
Is there something we can do?
Is there a different dosage?
Is there a different medication?
Because this is bothering me,or I don't want my hearing to go
down.
I certainly I saw a man who hadwhat they called a superbug.
We don't hear about that muchanymore, but it's basically a

(08:25):
drug-resistant disease and sothey have to use a lot of these
really fierce antibioticmedications that are usually
given through IV to really tryto stop the infection.
And he came in for regularhearing tests so we could see if
his hearing was falling.
And if it did fall, then hewent back to his physician,

(08:48):
explained it, to see if theycould adjust the medication to
keep it from getting worse.
It's very important, especiallywith these drugs like I'm
discussing, as well as cancerdrugs such as cisplatin we're
really talking aboutchemotherapy when I talk about
cancer drugs to let yourphysician know, because they can

(09:08):
sometimes do things.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Now, are there any final words of wisdom for us
today, Dr Copley, on ototoxicmedications.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
Like I said, I think the important thing is if you
start any medication and youhave side effects that you
haven't been warned about.
Especially if you haven't beenwarned about, because sometimes
a physician will say this couldbe the side effect and that's
normal.
But if there are side effectsand you're concerned about them,
it's very important to bring itup with the physician or with
their nurse, so the nurse cantalk to the physician and that

(09:42):
way it can be addressed, becauseif the physician doesn't know,
you can't address it.
So I think it's very importantto bring it up to your
healthcare provider so that theycan see what they can do.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Wow.
Thank you for sharing thatgreat information with us today.
Dr Copley, We'll catch you onthe next episode.
Have a fantastic rest of yourday.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
You too, Sophia.
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Thank you for listening to the Total Hearing
Care Difference.
If you're in the DFW Metroplexand ready to take the next step
toward better hearing, call469-218-4853 to book an
appointment or visitTotalHearingCarecom, because
when you hear better, you livebetter.
See you next time.