Hearing loss, defined as full or partial decrease in the capacity to detect high and low tones of sound, can be sudden or progressive. Hearing loss can be present from pre-natal to advanced age. Besides the many causes for hearing impairment it is only recently hat the connection of the opiate medication Vicodin to hearing loss has been established. A few types of medications have been known to cause partial or full hearing loss. Among them are antibiotics, gentamicin, aspirin, non-steroidal pain medication and diuretics. Vicodin and hearing loss came into prominence in medical news after redio talk show host Rush Limbaugh seemed to have suffered hearing loss by the heavy use and addiction to vicodin and OxyContin. Any family doctor is not sure of answer to this question. It is not known how vicodin and hearing loss are related. It is also unknown why they are related. A doctor prescribing vicodin for a patient should warn him about the mysterious link between vicodin and hearing loss. He should direct him to seek medical help if he suspects any change in the hearing function. He should also be told not to discontinue the drug without medical supervision due to withdrawal syndrome.
Vicodin and Hearing Loss
Vicodin is an opiate and a synthetic narcotic drug for acute or chronic severe pain. It is not directly derived from opium as morphine and codeine are, Vicotine and other opiates are synthetic, made in laboratories, not natural {opium poppy flower}. Vicotine is not the only opiate drug linked to hearing loss. Darvocet and OxyConti, also synthetic opiates, also produce loss of hearing when used. Some preliminary findings of research concerning vicodin and hearing loss are available. Long term use of the natural opiates, morphine and codeine do not cause hearing loss. Another complication is this research is that synthetic opiates like Fentanyl and Methadone have no link to hearing loss at all.
Why do doctors prescribe vicodin if it produces hearing loss? This is a rare complication, not a frequent side effect of vicodin. This drug can be of short term use and does not link to hearing loss. The body chemistry of each and every patient is different. For one Fentanyl and morphine may not be effective on giving pain relief vicodin will suit such person. Natural or synthetic opiates are greatly addictive. They are the remedies for short term severe pain like surgical pain and tooth extractions. In these case there is scope for addiction. Usage for long term chronic pain like that of cancer patients, the terminally ill, and those with intractable back pain may or may not case addiction. It becomes an acceptable risk preferred to exeneciating pain. Finally the mystery of the linkage of vicodin to hearing loss and not all opiate drugs will be solved. Till then vicodin,with caution, will be used by doctors and only on a short term basis.
[tags]Steroids, Antibiotics, Opiates[/tags]