Molecular Hydrogen and Hearing Loss: Human Studies
Studies on hearing loss, for example sudden hearing loss or hearing damage after radiotherapy, in which H₂ was tested as an add-on to standard treatment. 3 papers are listed here (randomized controlled trials: 1). Much of the wider research on noise- and drug-induced hearing loss comes from animal models.
In humans, hydrogen was inhaled. A double-blind trial in sudden sensorineural hearing loss combined it with standard drug treatment and measured the hearing threshold after three months; a small study without a control group followed patients with long-standing hearing loss after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal cancer. A 2026 systematic review pools human and animal studies.
The randomized trial found no significant difference in the final hearing threshold, but a larger improvement in the hydrogen group, close to the significance threshold. The other human data come from small uncontrolled studies. The evidence is early; H₂ does not replace ENT treatment.
Human studies on molecular hydrogen for Hearing. This page collects the 3 studies catalogued in this area — 1 randomized trials, 1 pilot/observational studies and 1 reviews. Listed newest first.
Human studies (2)
2022 · Okada et al. — A Double-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of Hydrogen Inhalation Therapy for Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
In 65 patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss also given glucocorticoids and prostaglandin E1, hydrogen inhalation gave no significant difference in 3-month hearing threshold compared with air (39.0 compared with 49.5 dB), but a larger improvement (32.7 compared with 24.2 dB, P = 0.048).
2022 · Kong et al. — Effect of Hydrogen Inhalation Therapy on Hearing Loss of Patients With Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma After Radiotherapy
In 17 long-term survivors of nasopharyngeal cancer with hearing loss after radiotherapy, 4 weeks of hydrogen inhalation were followed by lower air and bone conduction hearing thresholds and a lower eustachian tube dysfunction score than before treatment (P = 0.0027, 0.0404 and 0.0293).
Reviews (1)
2026 · Wang et al. — A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Hydrogen Therapy in Hearing Loss
This systematic review included 11 studies of hydrogen therapy for hearing loss in humans or animals and reports protective effects in noise- and drug-induced hearing loss models plus improved hearing in two clinical settings, without pooling the data.