There are lots of possible causes of tiredness, everything from the inability to sleep at night to respiratory issues like sleep apnea. But there is something more common that can also be the cause of tiredness and that’s hearing loss.
That’s at least partly because of the fact that hearing loss normally progresses slowly over time. You may not immediately distinguish the symptoms and, as a result, you might feel as though you are constantly tired for no reason. This can be a frustrating experience. In addition, this exhaustion can often lead to irritability and, ultimately, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will often improve your energy levels, reducing tiredness and exhaustion.
Your brain will compensate for gradually developing hearing loss
Hearing loss is typically a gradually advancing condition that gets worse over time. You may not even realize that you have a hearing loss at first. Even prevalent symptoms, like turning the volume up on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you aren’t watching for them.
Exhaustion is one of the most noticeable symptoms of hearing loss. You may feel tired no matter how much rest you got the night before. Unfortunately, many individuals don’t intuitively associate this symptom with hearing loss.
Because the cause happens in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear problem. When your ears aren’t getting as much information, your brain works harder to make sense of it all. This continual extra work is exhausting in the same way that extended periods of concentration can take a toll. Left neglected, this exhaustion can grow worse over time, affecting your quality of life and your ability to execute daily routine activities.
The role of stigma
So when individuals start to feel fatigue, why wouldn’t they simply visit a hearing specialist? One partial reason is that people just don’t connect tiredness with hearing loss. But there’s another reason that might inevitably be more detrimental: stigma. There’s an impression that hearing loss is terrible or ruins your life or that there’s nothing you can do about it. All of these things are untrue, and they prevent many people from seeking treatment.
However, this stigma is starting to fade away as more individuals become open to their hearing loss. It’s becoming a more common understanding that hearing loss can happen to individuals of all ages and today’s hearing aids are small enough that the few people who can’t let go of this stigma won’t even notice them.
Regrettably, this perception of social stigma can cause individuals in the early stages of hearing loss to put off on getting the treatment they need leading to 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. For example, scheduling routine screenings with a hearing specialist before you notice symptoms can help create a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is often much more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are some steps you can take to lessen that exhaustion as much as possible. Here are several of the most prevalent and simplest steps:
- Be sure you wear your hearing aids as frequently as you can: One of the chief 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.
- Consult a hearing specialist: It’s important to monitor your hearing health. Consulting 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 have to work as hard to compensate.
- Try to locate more quiet, isolated places for conversations: Distinguishing voices from background noise can be challenging when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re using hearing aids or not). It will be easier, and less tiring, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter place.
- Take breaks from 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.
So if you’re dealing with an abnormal amount of exhaustion and tiredness, with no evident cause, it may be time to plan 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.