There are a number of possible causes of exhaustion, everything from the inability to sleep at 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 partially because of the fact that hearing loss normally progresses slowly over time. You may not immediately detect the symptoms and, as a result, you may feel as if you’re constantly tired for no reason. This experience can be quite frustrating. Additionally, this exhaustion can often result in irritability and, ultimately, social isolation. Luckily, your energy levels will usually improve once you get your hearing loss treated.
Hearing loss moves gradually (and your brain compensates)
For most individuals, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that gets worse over time. You might not even recognize that you have a hearing loss at first. If you aren’t 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 tired no matter how much sleep you got the night before. This symptom, regrettably, 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 harder to comprehend it all. In the same way as sustained periods of intense concentration can leave you fatigued, the extra brain power needed to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Your ability to complete daily tasks and your general quality of life can be significantly affected over time as your neglected hearing loss grows worse.
Stigma plays a role
So why don’t more individuals just consult a hearing specialist when they begin feeling tired? One partial explanation is that individuals just don’t connect tiredness with hearing loss. But there’s another reason that may ultimately be more damaging: stigma. There’s a feeling that hearing loss is terrible or ruins your life or that there’s nothing you can do about it. All of these things are false, and they prevent many people from seeking treatment.
However, as more people are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has started to disappear. It’s becoming a more prevalent understanding that hearing loss can happen to individuals of all ages and modern hearing aids are discreet 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.
How to manage hearing loss-associated fatigue
The earliest stages of hearing loss may not have any noticeable symptoms. That makes it challenging to effectively take a reactive strategy, and it’s why many hearing specialists prefer preventative techniques. Hearing specialists advocate for regular screenings in order to create a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be capable of identifying changes to your hearing in subsequent screenings. Once this baseline is achieved, early intervention is frequently a lot 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 simplest and most common measures include the following:
- Try to find more quiet, secluded spots for conversations: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be challenging 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 attempting to hear, lessening fatigue in the process.
- Take breaks from conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet break somewhere. Your brain is working extra hard to participate in conversation and brief rests will make that more sustainable.
- If you have hearing aids, wear them as frequently as possible: Hearing aids are designed 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 fatigued because your brain won’t have to work so hard.
- Schedule a consultation with a hearing specialist: It’s important to monitor your hearing health. When hearing loss is in its early stages, your brain doesn’t have to work as hard as it does when the condition gets worse, and a hearing specialist can identify hearing loss when it first begins to develop.
It’s probably time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing fatigue with no obvious cause. Treating hearing loss can help you reduce your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re afraid of the stigma.