Does hearing loss affect vision? Absolutely. If you lose your hearing, your sight becomes much more important because any loss of visual acuity makes it harder to read lips and use sign language.
Conversely, those with visual impairment rely heavily on their sense of hearing to assist with everyday activities such as maintaining their balance and avoiding obstacles while walking.
For example, research shows that blind people are better at identifying the source of a sound than people who can see.
How exactly are vision and hearing linked?
The brain uses inputs from both the eyes and ears to make sense of the world, so the loss of one can impact its ability to interpret signals from the other.
A 2016 study from UCLA found that the amount that hearing and vision interact varies by the individual as well as the situation, and combining the senses may help in certain tasks.
What causes vision and hearing loss?
A variety of factors:
GENETIC CONDITIONS: There are a variety of genetic conditions that can lead to a child being born deaf or blind or developing hearing or sight loss over time.
Deafness and blindness themselves are hereditary, and conditions such as Down syndrome and Cogan’s syndrome are associated with impaired hearing and/or vision.
Usher syndrome, which affects less than 20 people per 100,000, is the most common condition that affects both hearing and vision, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). About half of all hereditary deaf-blindness cases are attributed to Usher syndrome.
BIRTH DEFECTS AND PREMATURE BIRTH: Infants who are born before their ears or eyes have fully developed may have long-term problems with their vision or hearing.
ILLNESS: There are some diseases that can result in hearing loss, vision loss or both.
Complications from chicken pox or measles, for example, can result in hearing or vision loss. Meningitis, brain tumors, diabetes and certain cancers can also cause hearing loss, vision loss or both.
MEDICATIONS: Some drugs — including common antibiotics, pain relievers and cholesterol medications — can cause short- or long-term hearing or vision loss.
INJURIES: Brain injuries and physical injuries to the eyes or inner ears can result in permanent vision or hearing loss.
AGE: It’s normal for both hearing and vision to decline with age, a result of wear and tear as well as the bevy of additional health conditions that affect the elderly. While all five senses tend to decline over the years, deterioration of sight and hearing are often the most acute.
HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED ANY VISION LOSS? Find an eye doctor near you and schedule an exam.
