Since I started conversing with people world-wide who live with fibromyalgia, an interesting topic in regards to associated coexisting issues keeps arising. I never had the answer or even heard complaints of this topic before – hearing loss. I thought to myself hearing loss can’t be yet another possible condition that coexists with fibromyalgia. To my surprise, it is possible to suffer from hearing loss from fibromyalgia!! According to researchers, a study revealed people with fibromyalgia are 4.5 times more likely to suffer from hearing loss then people without the illness! Visit here to try the online hearing test.

A Norwegian study was conducted – 44, 494 people with fibromyalgia or other forms of musculoskeletal pain disorders participated. The study was set out to determine if there was a correlation between pain disorders and hearing loss could be established. A control group was also part of the study. The study never clarified possible causes of hearing loss with musculoskeletal pain disorders. I researched over and over and could not find any further explanations. The results revealed that individuals with fibromyalgia reported hearing loss compared to people without fibromyalgia or other musculoskeletal pain conditions. You can read about this study here.

A more recent study was done in 2021. The study was much smaller, which included only 33 people with fibromyalgia and 33 healthy volunteers. Each individual underwent various testing on their hearing. The results of the study revealed pure-tone hearing thresholds of right and left ears were found to be decreased in those with fibromyalgia compared to the healthy individuals. Read about this study here.

These are just two studies completed. I found a few other studies which all seem to report hearing loss is prevalent among people with fibromyalgia.

Another ear issue that can occur with fibromyalgia…

Tinnitus is also prevalent in those with fibromyalgia. If you do not know what tinnitus is – it is when a person hears ringing in their ears or other sounds that are not produced by external sounds. Other people around you will not hear the ringing sounds. A 2021 study revealed that fibromyalgia patients were more likely to suffer from tinnitus then those without fibromyalgia. 59.3% with fibromyalgia were found to have tinnitus and 7.7% of the control group ( without fibromyalgia). Another study also revealed that that patients with fibromyalgia and severe tinnitus had lower functional impairments and their overall quality of life was low then those without fibromyalgia.

You can read about both studies here

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35077079/

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10324957/

Tinnitus does not contribute to deafness, ( according to many websites I used while researching). However, other sites state it does contribute to hearing loss. I am getting mixed information, so I cannot state if it does or does not contribute to deafness. Either way, tinnitus can cause interference with your hearing.