There are numerous possible causes of tiredness, everything from being unable to sleep at night to respiratory issues like sleep apnea. But many people are surprised to learn that chronic tiredness and exhaustion can also be caused by something fairly common: hearing loss.
That’s at least partially because of the fact that hearing loss normally progresses 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. 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 improve your energy levels, reducing fatigue and exhaustion.
Your brain will compensate for gradually developing hearing loss
Hearing loss is typically a slowly advancing condition that gets worse over time. You may not even realize that you have a hearing loss at first. If you’re not specifically watching for them, even obvious 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 might feel depleted no matter how much rest you got the night before. Regrettably, many individuals don’t intuitively associate this symptom with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause occurs in your brain. Your brain needs to work overtime to process sound due to the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you exhausted. This constant extra work is taxing in the same way that prolonged periods of concentration can take a toll. Left neglected, this fatigue can grow worse over time, affecting your quality of life and your ability to complete daily routine tasks.
Stigma plays a role
So why don’t more individuals just visit a hearing specialist when they begin feeling fatigued? One partial explanation is that individuals just don’t connect tiredness with hearing loss. But the notion of stigma is another cause which can be even more damaging. Individuals frequently feel as if others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that admitting it will ruin their lives. All of these things are false, and they prevent many people from finding treatment.
However, as more people are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has started to fade. Many individuals understand that hearing loss is not some kind 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.
It’s unfortunate that this social stigma can make it more difficult for individuals to find the care they need because this often results in hearing loss that gets worse over time when it may not have to.
Treatment options for hearing loss-related fatigue
The earliest stages of hearing loss might not have any evident symptoms. That’s why hearing specialists prefer to take a preventative approach rather than the far more challenging and less effective reactive method. For instance, scheduling routine screenings with a hearing specialist before you notice symptoms can help establish a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Early treatment will be a lot more effective once we have determined that baseline.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are a few steps you can take to lessen that exhaustion as much as possible. A few of the simplest and most common measures include the following:
- Give yourself a break in between conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet rest somewhere. Your brain is working overtime to take part in conversation and brief rests will make that more sustainable.
- Try to find more quiet, isolated places for conversations: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be difficult to sort out voices, even with hearing aids in some circumstances. It will be easier, and less exhausting, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter location.
- Be sure you use your hearing aids as often 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 level of fatigue.
- Schedule an assessment with a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the condition of your hearing is essential. When hearing loss is in its early phases, 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.
So if you’re experiencing an unusual amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no evident cause, it may be time to schedule a visit to your hearing specialist. Treating hearing loss can help you lessen your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re afraid of the stigma.