There are numerous potential 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 cause fatigue and that’s hearing loss.
That’s at least partly due to the fact that hearing loss usually progresses slowly over time. You may find yourself constantly exhausted for no apparent reason because you failed to recognize the symptoms of early hearing loss. This can be a frustrating experience. Additionally, this exhaustion can frequently lead to irritability and, ultimately, social isolation. Fortunately, your energy levels will usually increase once you get your hearing loss treated.
Your brain will compensate for gradually progressing hearing loss
Hearing loss is normally a gradually progressing condition that grows 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 fatigue. No matter how much sleep you get, you could still feel exhausted. This symptom, unfortunately, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause happens in your brain. When your ears aren’t receiving as much information, your brain works overtime to comprehend it all. This constant extra work is exhausting in the same way that extended periods of concentration can take a toll. Your ability to perform daily tasks and your general quality of life can be significantly affected over time as your neglected hearing loss gets worse.
Stigma plays a role
So when people begin to feel tired, why wouldn’t they simply go see a hearing specialist? There are several explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But the notion of stigma is another reason which can be even more damaging. There’s a feeling that hearing loss is terrible or ruins your life or that there’s nothing you can do about it. Individuals will often avoid seeking treatment because of these false ideas.
However, this stigma is beginning to disappear 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 see them.
Unfortunately, this perception of social stigma can cause people in the early stages of hearing loss to avoid getting the treatment they need resulting in more serious permanent hearing loss.
How to deal with hearing loss-associated fatigue
The earliest phases of hearing loss may not have any evident symptoms. That makes it difficult to effectively take a reactive strategy, and it’s why many hearing specialists favor preventative techniques. Hearing specialists advocate for regular screenings in order to establish a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be able to identify changes to your hearing in subsequent screenings. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is frequently much more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are some steps you can take to minimize that exhaustion as much as possible. A few of the easiest and most common measures include the following:
- If you use 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 significantly easier to understand when you are hearing them. This means your brain won’t need to work as hard and you won’t experience the same level of fatigue.
- Give yourself a break in between conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. Your brain is working extra hard to take part in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Try to have conversations in quieter spots: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be challenging to sort out voices, even with hearing aids in some instances. Moving conversations to a location with less background noise can make it easier for your brain to focus on the voice you’re attempting to hear, lessening fatigue in the process.
- Consult a hearing specialist: It’s important to monitor your hearing health. Seeing 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 need to work as hard to compensate.
It’s probably time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing fatigue with no apparent cause. You can reduce your fatigue and boost your energy by treating your hearing loss. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be untreated.