A number of factors can lead to hearing loss, from exposure to loud noises to smoking or an unhealthy diet. Even normal aging causes hearing loss, and around half of seniors over the age of 70 experience hearing loss. But did you know that eating spicy foods could cause temporary deafness, or even damage your hearing?
Food Blogger Suffers Temporary Deafness
Food video blogger Ben Sumadiwiria recently had a bad experience with spicy food. Eating strange foods or pushing yourself to the limit when it comes to spicy foods has become a type of extreme sport, but Sumadiwiria discovered that extreme sports, even when it comes to food, could land you in some dangerous situations.
Last year, Sumadiwiria completed an extreme food challenge: eating a bowl of so called “death noodles” in Indonesia. When it comes to spicy, these noodles are out of this world hot, and devouring the dish led Sumadiwiria to experience 2 minutes of deafness. He got it all on tape, and he posted a video of him suffering through the challenge and struggling to regain his senses.
The noodles Sumadiwiria ate were spiced with 100 bird’s eye chilies, or Thai chilies. These small red chilies are among the hottest in the world, with each one measuring in at between 100,000 and 250,000 heat units when measured on the Scoville scale of spicy foods. If you think jalapeños are spicy, the bird’s eye chilies are around 45 times hotter, so it’s no wonder that 100 chilies in one bowl of noodles has been nicknamed “death noodles”. Sumadiwiria who was expecting to shed a few tears, sweat, or have his face flush from the heat. This challenge took him to a whole different level, and left Sumadiwiria frightened.
Your Body Reacting to Spicy Foods
Sumadiwiria is no stranger to spice, and routinely eats chilies as a snack, but he said the noodles were the hottest thing he’s ever had and caused extreme pain. While we don’t know for sure why spicy foods can lead to temporary deafness, we do know that chilies contain a lot of capsaicin, the compound that make them so hot. This compound is found in a number of plants and is a natural repellent to keep plants safe from fungus or bugs. Just like the insects that can’t eat capsaicin without experiencing discomfort, human cells found in the mouth are irritated by capsaicin, leading to the burning sensation in the mouth, throat, and eyes when we consume spicy foods.
A bit of spice can be beneficial and will help your clear your sinuses when you have a bad cold. But when you eat something too spicy, your body goes into overdrive to rid itself of the capsaicin, overproducing mucus, snot and tears in an effort to protect itself from the heat. Eating high levels of capsaicin can even cause blistering of the mouth and throat, your body’s attempt to protect deep tissues by creating a protective layer of pus. The body also releases endorphins to block the pain receptors in the mouth and reduce discomfort, which is why spicy foods can make your mouth feel numb for a while.
How Does Spice Cause Temporary Deafness?
What happened to Sumadiwiria that caused temporary deafness? “The pain went all the way up to my ears to the extent where they were blocked,” reported Sumadiwiria when talking about his hearing loss. Since the throat and ears are connected by the eustachian tubes, it’s not surprising he experienced hearing loss. These channels between the throat and ears help equalize pressure in the ear, allowing you to pop your ears when you fly, or experience changes of altitude or pressure. When you eat something spicy and your nose produces copious amounts of mucus, the eustachian tubes are blocked, leading to temporary deafness. You can also experience this kind of temporary hearing loss when you have a bad cold, and the overproduction of mucus muffles the sounds around you for a couple days.
Monitoring Hearing Loss
Temporary hearing loss, whether caused by spicy food or exposure to extremely loud noises, should go away in a matter of minutes. If your temporary hearing loss persists, visit us immediately at My Hearing Centers to safeguard your hearing and make sure you haven’t sustained permanent hearing damage.