Tiredness can have a wide variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems such as sleep apnea. But there is something more common that can also be the cause of fatigue and that’s hearing loss.
That’s at least partly due to the fact that hearing loss normally develops gradually over time. You may not immediately distinguish the symptoms and, as a result, you might feel as if you’re constantly tired for no reason. This can be a frustrating experience. Additionally, this exhaustion can frequently result in irritability and, eventually, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will frequently boost your energy levels, reducing fatigue and exhaustion.
Hearing loss moves gradually (and your brain compensates)
Hearing loss is typically a gradually progressing condition that grows worse over time. You might not even recognize that you have a hearing loss at first. If you’re not specifically watching for them, even conspicuous symptoms, like cranking 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. You may feel depleted no matter how much sleep you got the night before. This symptom, unfortunately, isn’t typically associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause happens in your brain, the symptoms aren’t usually considered an ear problem. Your brain has to work overtime to process sound because of the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you fatigued. This continual extra work is taxing in the same way that extended periods of concentration can take a toll. Your ability to complete daily tasks and your general quality of life can be significantly impacted over time as your neglected hearing loss grows worse.
Stigma plays a role
So when individuals start to feel fatigue, why wouldn’t they just go see a hearing specialist? One partial explanation is that people just don’t connect fatigue with hearing loss. But the perception of stigma is another reason which can be even more damaging. Individuals frequently feel like others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that admitting it will ruin their lives. All of these things are untrue, and they prevent many individuals from finding treatment.
However, as more individuals are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to disappear. It’s becoming a more prevalent understanding that hearing loss can happen to people of all ages and today’s hearing aids are discreet enough that the few people who can’t let go of this stigma won’t even notice them.
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 leading to more serious permanent hearing loss.
Solutions for hearing loss-related fatigue
The earliest phases of hearing loss may not have any noticeable symptoms. That’s why hearing specialists prefer to take a preventative approach instead of the far more challenging and less effective reactive method. For instance, scheduling regular screenings with a hearing specialist before you detect symptoms can help establish a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is frequently a lot more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are a few steps you can take to minimize that exhaustion as much as possible. Here are a few of the most prevalent and easiest steps:
- Try to find more quiet, isolated places for conversations: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be challenging to sort out voices, even with hearing aids in some instances. It will be easier, and less exhausting, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter area.
- Schedule an assessment with a hearing specialist: It’s important to keep tabs on your hearing health. When hearing loss is in its early stages, your brain doesn’t need to work as hard as it does when the condition gets worse, and a hearing specialist can identify hearing loss when it first begins to develop.
- Give yourself a break in between conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and recharge in between conversations. This can help your brain recover from all the work it’s doing and make everyday communication a bit more sustainable.
- If you use hearing aids, wear them as frequently as you can: Hearing aids are manufactured to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be considerably easier to understand when you are hearing them. This means your brain won’t have to work as hard and you won’t experience the same amount of fatigue.
So if you’re experiencing an abnormal amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no discernible cause, it might be time to plan a visit to your hearing specialist. Treating hearing loss can help you minimize your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.