Tiredness can have a variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems 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 develops slowly over time. You may find yourself continuously fatigued for no apparent reason because you failed to detect the symptoms of early hearing loss. This experience can be really frustrating. This exhaustion 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, mitigating tiredness and exhaustion.
Hearing loss moves gradually (and your brain compensates)
For the majority of individuals, hearing loss is a very slow-moving condition that grows worse over time. In its early phases, you likely won’t even notice that you’re developing hearing loss. If you’re not specifically watching for them, even conspicuous 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 might feel depleted no matter how much rest you got the night before. This symptom, regrettably, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause occurs in your brain. Your brain needs to work overtime to process sound because of the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you exhausted. This continual extra work is taxing in the same way that extended periods of concentration can take a toll. Left neglected, this fatigue can get worse over time, affecting your quality of life and your ability to complete daily routine activities.
Stigma plays a role
So why don’t more individuals just consult a hearing specialist when they begin feeling tired? One partial reason is that people just don’t connect fatigue with hearing loss. But there’s another reason that might ultimately be more damaging: stigma. People frequently feel like others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that admitting it will ruin their lives. All of these things are untrue, and they prevent many individuals from seeking treatment.
However, as more individuals are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to disappear. It’s becoming a more common understanding that hearing loss can happen to individuals of all ages and today’s hearing aids are discreet enough that the few people who can’t get over this stigma won’t even notice them.
It’s unfortunate that this social stigma can make it more difficult for individuals to find the care they need because this often leads to hearing loss that grows worse over time when it might not have to.
Solutions for hearing loss-related fatigue
The earliest phases of hearing loss may not have any evident symptoms. That makes it challenging to effectively take a reactive strategy, and it’s why many hearing specialists favor preventative approaches. For instance, scheduling routine screenings with a hearing specialist before you detect symptoms can help establish a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is often far more effective.
You can minimize hearing loss associated exhaustion by taking a few proactive steps. A few of the easiest and most common measures include the following:
- Make sure you wear your hearing aids as often as you can: Hearing aids are manufactured to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be significantly 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.
- 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.
- Schedule a consultation with a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the state of your hearing is important. Seeing a hearing specialist can help you detect hearing loss in its early stages when it’s less of a problem and your brain doesn’t have to work as hard to compensate.
- 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 cases. It will be easier, and less fatiguing, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter spot.
It’s probably time to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no evident 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.
