Fatigue can have a variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems such as sleep apnea. But many individuals are surprised to learn that persistent tiredness and exhaustion can also be caused by something fairly common: hearing loss.
To some extent, that’s because hearing loss can be a slow-moving, subtle condition. You might find yourself constantly exhausted for no apparent reason because you failed to detect the symptoms of early hearing loss. This experience can be really frustrating. This fatigue can often turn into irritability which could cause you to socially seclude yourself. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will frequently improve your energy levels, mitigating fatigue and exhaustion.
Your brain will compensate for slowly developing hearing loss
Hearing loss is usually a slowly developing condition that grows worse over time. You might not even realize that you have a hearing impairment at first. Even common symptoms, like turning up the volume on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you’re not watching for them.
One of the more difficult to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often exhaustion. You may feel depleted no matter how much sleep you got the night before. This symptom, regrettably, isn’t typically associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause occurs in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear problem. Your brain needs to work overtime to process sound because of the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you exhausted. In the same way as sustained periods of intense concentration can leave you fatigued, the extra brain power required to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Left untreated, this fatigue can get worse over time, impacting your quality of life and your ability to complete daily routine activities.
Stigma plays a role
So when individuals begin to feel tired, why wouldn’t they simply consult a hearing specialist? One partial reason is that people just don’t connect fatigue with hearing loss. But there’s another reason that might ultimately be more detrimental: stigma. People often feel like others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that acknowledging it will ruin their lives. People will often avoid pursuing treatment because of these false ideas.
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 type of social failing, and the very small nature of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around people who unfortunately will not let go of this stigma.
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 resulting in more serious permanent hearing loss.
Solutions 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 strategy instead of the far more challenging and less effective reactive method. Hearing specialists advocate for regular screenings in order to establish a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be capable of identifying changes to your hearing in later screenings. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is often a lot more effective.
You can minimize hearing loss associated exhaustion by taking a few proactive measures. Here are a few of the most prevalent and simplest steps:
- Take breaks from conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. This can help your brain recover from all the work it’s doing and make day-to-day communication a bit more sustainable.
- Schedule an assessment with a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the state of your hearing is essential. When hearing loss is in its early phases, your brain doesn’t need to work as hard as it does when the condition worsens, and a hearing specialist can identify hearing loss when it first begins to develop.
- Try to have conversations in quieter places: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be difficult to sort out voices, even with hearing aids in some circumstances. Moving conversations to an area with less background noise can make it easier for your brain to focus on the voice you’re trying to hear, reducing fatigue in the process.
- If you have hearing aids, wear them as frequently as you can: One of the chief functions of hearing aids is to clarify human speech, making understanding conversations much easier. This means you won’t be as tired because your brain won’t need to work so hard.
It’s most likely time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing fatigue with no obvious cause. Treating hearing loss can help you lessen your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.