Sleepless nights aren’t any fun. Particularly when it happens frequently. You toss and turn and probably stare at the clock (or your phone) and stress about just how fatigued you’ll be the next day. When these kinds of sleepless nights routinely happen, medical professionals tend to use the term “insomnia”. With insomnia, the drawbacks of not sleeping will then start to compound and can, over time, have a negative impact on your overall health.
And, maybe not surprisingly, “your general health” includes the health of your hearing. Yup, your hearing can be negatively affected by insomnia! Though the relationship between hearing loss and insomnia might not be a cause-and-effect situation, there’s still a connection there.
Can your hearing be impacted by lack of sleep?
How could loss of sleep possibly impact your hearing? There’s a significant amount of research that indicates insomnia, over a long enough period, can impact your cardiovascular system. It becomes more difficult for your blood to circulate into all of the extremities of your body when you don’t get the regenerative power of a good night’s sleep.
Insomnia also means an increase in stress and anxiety. Feeling anxious and stressed will affect you in physiological ways as well as mentally.
So how is that relevant to hearing loss? There are tiny hairs inside of your ears called stereocilia. When waves of sound vibrate these tiny hairs, signals are transmitted to your brain which translates these signals into sound.
These little hairs have a difficult time remaining healthy when there are circulatory issues. These hairs can, in some instances, be permanently damaged. And once that takes place, your hearing will be irrevocably damaged. Permanent hearing loss can be the consequences, and the longer the circulation issues persist, the worse the damage will be.
Does it also work the other way around?
Is it possible for hearing loss to cause you to lose sleep? It’s absolutely possible. Many individuals favor a little background sound when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make the world very quiet. This means that the quiet of hearing loss can sometimes prevent normal sleeping. Another way that hearing loss may cost you some sleep is if you find yourself anxious about losing your hearing.
So how do you get a quality night’s sleep when you have hearing loss? Wearing your hearing aids every day can help lessen stress on your brain at night (when you’re not wearing them). Following other sleep-health tips can also be helpful.
Some guidelines for a good night’s sleep
- Steer clear of screens for at least an hour before going to bed: (Actually, the longer the better.) Screens tend to activate your brain
- Find ways to reduce stress: It may not be possible to eliminate every stressor from your life, but giving yourself time to unwind is crucial. Do something relaxing before you go to bed.
- Don’t drink caffeine after midday.: Even decaf coffee has enough caffeine in it to keep you up at night if you drink it late enough. Soda also fits into this category.
- Keep your bedroom for sleeping (mostly): Your bedroom is for sleeping in, so try to keep it that way. Working in your bedroom isn’t a great idea.
- For at least a couple of hours before you go to bed, try to abstain from liquids: Having to get up and go to the bathroom can start the “wake up” process in your brain. It’s much better to sleep right through the night.
- Get some exercise regularly: Your body needs to move, and if you aren’t moving, you could end up going to bed with some excess energy. Getting enough exercise every day will really be helpful.
- Refrain from drinking alcohol before you go to bed: Your existing sleep cycle will be disturbed by drinking alcohol before bed.
Take care of your hearing health
You can still manage your symptoms even if you have hearing loss along with some insomnia.
If you’re concerned about your hearing, set up an appointment with us today.
