Tiredness can have a wide range of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory conditions such as sleep apnea. But many people are surprised to learn that persistent tiredness and exhaustion can also be due to something fairly common: hearing loss.
That’s at least partly because of the fact that hearing loss usually develops slowly over time. You may find yourself constantly fatigued for no apparent reason because you failed to detect the symptoms of early hearing loss. This experience can be really frustrating. This exhaustion can often turn into irritability which could cause you to socially isolate yourself. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will frequently improve your energy levels, reducing tiredness and exhaustion.
Hearing loss progresses gradually (and your brain compensates)
Hearing loss is typically a gradually advancing condition that grows worse over time. You may not even realize that you have a hearing loss at first. Even prevalent symptoms, like turning up the volume on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you aren’t watching for them.
Fatigue is one of the most noticeable symptoms of hearing loss. You may feel tired no matter how much rest you got the night before. This symptom, unfortunately, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause happens in your brain, the symptoms aren’t usually considered an ear problem. When your ears aren’t receiving as much information, your brain works overtime to comprehend it all. Just as sustained periods of intense concentration can leave you fatigued, the extra brain power required to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Left untreated, this exhaustion can get worse over time, impacting your quality of life and your ability to execute daily routine activities.
Stigma plays a role
So why don’t more people just go see a hearing specialist when they start feeling tired? There are many explanations: frequently people are busy or thinking about other things. But the perception of stigma is another reason which can be even more detrimental. People frequently feel like others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that admitting it will ruin their lives. Individuals will often avoid seeking treatment because of these false notions.
However, this stigma is starting to disappear as more people become open to their hearing loss. Many individuals understand that hearing loss isn’t some type of social failing, and the very small nature of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around folks who sadly will not get over this stigma.
It’s unfortunate that this social stigma can make it more difficult for individuals to find the care they need because this frequently results in hearing loss that gets worse over time when it might not have to.
How to manage hearing loss-associated fatigue
There are frequently no apparent symptoms of early stage hearing loss. That’s why hearing specialists favor taking a preventative strategy rather than the far more difficult and less effective reactive method. Hearing specialists recommend 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. Early treatment will be a lot more effective once we have determined that baseline.
You can minimize hearing loss related exhaustion by taking a few proactive measures. Here are several of the most common and simplest steps:
- If you use hearing aids, wear them as often as possible: One of the main functions of hearing aids is to clarify human speech, making understanding conversations a lot easier. This means your brain won’t have to work as hard and you will not experience the same degree of fatigue.
- Schedule an assessment with a hearing specialist: It’s important to monitor your hearing health. When hearing loss is in its early stages, your brain doesn’t have to work as hard as it does when the condition gets worse, and a hearing specialist can diagnose hearing loss when it first begins to develop.
- Take breaks from conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet break somewhere. This can help your brain recuperate from all the work it’s doing and make day-to-day communication a little more sustainable.
- Try to find more quiet, isolated spots for conversations: Sorting out voices from background noise can be challenging when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re wearing hearing aids or not). Moving conversations to a location with less background noise can make it easier for your brain to focus on the voice you’re attempting to hear, minimizing fatigue in the process.
So if you’re feeling an abnormal amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no discernible cause, it may be time to schedule a visit to your hearing specialist. You can lessen your fatigue and boost your energy by treating your hearing loss. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be neglected.
