There are numerous possible causes of fatigue, everything from the inability to sleep at night to respiratory problems like sleep apnea. But many individuals are surprised to find out that chronic tiredness and exhaustion can also be a result of something fairly common: hearing loss.
That’s at least partially due to the fact that hearing loss usually develops slowly 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, ultimately, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will often boost your energy levels, reducing tiredness and exhaustion.
Your brain will compensate for slowly progressing hearing loss
Hearing loss is normally a slowly advancing condition that grows worse over time. You might not even realize that you have a hearing impairment at first. If you aren’t specifically watching for them, even obvious symptoms, like cranking the volume on your audio devices way up, can be easy to overlook.
Fatigue is one of the most noticeable symptoms of hearing loss. You may feel depleted no matter how much sleep you got the night before. Regrettably, many individuals don’t intuitively link this symptom with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause happens in your brain. When your ears aren’t receiving as much information, your brain works harder to make sense of it all. This continual extra work is taxing in the same way that prolonged periods of concentration can take a toll. Left untreated, this exhaustion can grow worse over time, affecting your quality of life and your ability to execute daily routine tasks.
The role of stigma
So why don’t more people just go see a hearing specialist when they begin feeling tired? One partial reason is that people just don’t associate fatigue with hearing loss. But the notion of stigma is another cause which can be even more detrimental. There’s an impression that hearing loss is terrible or ruins your life or that there’s nothing you can do about it. People will often avoid seeking treatment because of these false notions.
However, as more people are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has started to fade. 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 get over this stigma won’t even see them.
Regrettably, 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
There are frequently 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 regular screenings with a hearing specialist before you notice symptoms can help create 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 some steps you can take to lessen that exhaustion as much as possible. A few of the simplest and most common measures include the following:
- Consult a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the state of your hearing is essential. Consulting a hearing specialist can help you identify hearing loss in its early stages when it’s less of an issue and your brain doesn’t have to work as hard to compensate.
- If you have hearing aids, wear them as often as possible: Hearing aids are manufactured to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be substantially easier to make out when you are hearing them. This means your brain won’t have to work as hard and you won’t experience the same level of fatigue.
- Give yourself a rest in between conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet rest somewhere. Your brain is working overtime to engage in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Try to have conversations in quieter spots: 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 fatiguing, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter location.
It’s probably time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing fatigue with no apparent cause. Treating hearing loss can help you minimize your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be neglected.
