Fatigue can have a wide variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems such as sleep apnea. But many individuals are surprised to learn that persistent tiredness and exhaustion can also be a result of something fairly common: hearing loss.
To some extent, that’s because hearing loss can be a gradually-moving, subtle condition. You may not immediately recognize the symptoms and, as a result, you might feel as if you’re constantly tired for no reason. This can be a frustrating experience. This fatigue can frequently turn into irritability which could cause you to socially isolate yourself. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will often boost your energy levels, reducing fatigue and exhaustion.
Your brain will compensate for slowly developing hearing loss
For most individuals, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that grows worse over time. In its early phases, you probably won’t even detect that you’re developing hearing loss. If you’re not specifically watching for them, even obvious symptoms, like turning the volume on your audio devices way up, can be easy to miss.
One of the harder to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often exhaustion. No matter how much sleep you get, you could still feel fatigued. This symptom, regrettably, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause takes place in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear issue. When your ears aren’t getting as much information, your brain works overtime to make sense of it all. This constant extra work is exhausting in the same way that prolonged periods of concentration can take a toll. Left untreated, this exhaustion can grow worse over time, affecting your quality of life and your ability to execute daily routine tasks.
Stigma plays a role
So why don’t more individuals just visit a hearing specialist when they start feeling fatigued? There are several explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But the perception of stigma is another cause which can be even more damaging. There’s a feeling that hearing loss is bad or ruins your life or that there’s nothing that can be done about it. People will frequently avoid pursuing treatment because of these false notions.
However, as more individuals are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to fade. Many individuals understand that hearing loss is not some type of social failing, and the very small nature of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around people who sadly will not get over this stigma.
Unfortunately, this perception of social stigma can cause people in the early stages of hearing loss to put off on getting the treatment they need resulting in more serious permanent hearing loss.
Treatment options for hearing loss-related fatigue
There are often no obvious symptoms of early stage hearing loss. That makes it challenging to effectively take a reactive approach, and it’s why many hearing specialists prefer preventative techniques. Hearing specialists advocate for routine screenings in order to create a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be capable of identifying changes to your hearing in later screenings. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is often much more effective.
You can lessen hearing loss related exhaustion by taking a few proactive measures. Here are a few of the most common and simplest steps:
- Try to have conversations in quieter places: Sorting out voices from background noise can be difficult when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re using hearing aids or not). It will be easier, and less exhausting, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter place.
- Schedule an assessment with a hearing specialist: It’s important to keep tabs on your hearing health. Seeing a hearing specialist can help you identify hearing loss in its early stages when it’s less of a problem and your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to compensate.
- Give yourself a break in between conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. Your brain is working overtime to take part in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Make sure you wear your hearing aids as frequently as you can: One of the main functions of hearing aids is to clarify human speech, making understanding conversations much easier. This means you won’t be as tired because your brain won’t need to work so hard.
It’s probably time to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no obvious cause. Treating hearing loss can help you reduce your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re afraid of the stigma.