There are a number of possible causes of tiredness, everything from not being able to sleep at night to respiratory problems like sleep apnea. But there is something more common that can also cause tiredness and that’s hearing loss.
In part, that’s because hearing loss can be a gradually-moving, subtle condition. You might not immediately recognize the symptoms and, as a result, you might feel as though you’re constantly tired for no reason. This experience can be quite frustrating. Additionally, this exhaustion can frequently result in irritability and, eventually, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will frequently improve your energy levels, reducing fatigue and exhaustion.
Hearing loss moves slowly (and your brain compensates)
For the majority of individuals, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that grows worse over time. You may not even recognize that you have a hearing loss at first. If you’re not specifically watching for them, even obvious symptoms, like turning the volume on your audio devices way up, can be easy to overlook.
One of the more difficult to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often exhaustion. You may feel tired no matter how much rest you got the night before. This symptom, regrettably, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause occurs in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear problem. When your ears aren’t receiving as much information, your brain works overtime to make sense of it all. This continual extra work is exhausting in the same way that long periods of concentration can take a toll. Your ability to execute daily tasks and your general quality of life can be substantially affected over time as your untreated hearing loss grows worse.
Stigma plays a role
So why don’t more people just go see a hearing specialist when they start feeling tired? There are several explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But there’s another reason that might ultimately be more detrimental: stigma. There’s an impression that hearing loss is terrible or ruins your life or that there’s nothing that can be done about it. All of these things are untrue, and they stop many individuals from finding treatment.
However, as more people are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to fade. It’s becoming a more prevalent understanding that hearing loss can happen to people of all ages and modern hearing aids are small enough that the few people who can’t let go of this stigma won’t even see 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
The earliest phases of hearing loss may not have any evident symptoms. That’s why hearing specialists favor taking a preventative approach rather than the far more challenging and less effective reactive approach. For example, scheduling regular screenings with a hearing specialist before you notice symptoms can help establish a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is achieved, early intervention is frequently a lot more effective.
You can lessen hearing loss related exhaustion by taking a few proactive steps. Some of the simplest and most common steps include the following:
- Schedule a consultation with a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the status of your hearing is important. 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 need to work as hard to compensate.
- Take breaks from conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and recharge in between conversations. This can help your brain recuperate from all the work it’s doing and make everyday communication a little more sustainable.
- Make sure you use your hearing aids as frequently as you can: 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 you won’t be as tired because your brain won’t have to work so hard.
- Try to have conversations in quieter areas: 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 trying to hear, lessening fatigue in the process.
It’s probably time to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing fatigue with no evident cause. 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.