Tiredness can have a variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems such as 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 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 exhaustion can frequently turn into irritability which could cause you to socially seclude yourself. Fortunately, your energy levels will usually increase once you get your hearing loss treated.
Your brain will compensate for slowly developing hearing loss
Hearing loss is normally a slowly advancing condition that grows worse over time. In its early phases, you probably 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 miss.
One of the more difficult to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often fatigue. You might feel depleted no matter how much sleep you got the night before. Regrettably, many individuals don’t intuitively connect this symptom with hearing loss.
Because the cause takes place in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear issue. Your brain needs to work overtime to process sound because of the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you exhausted. Just as sustained periods of intense concentration can leave you fatigued, the additional brain power required to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Left untreated, this fatigue can grow worse over time, impacting your quality of life and your ability to execute daily routine tasks.
Stigma plays a role
So when individuals start to feel fatigue, why wouldn’t they simply go see a hearing specialist? There are several explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But there’s another reason that might inevitably be more damaging: stigma. There’s a feeling that hearing loss is bad or ruins your life or that there’s nothing that can be done about it. Individuals will often avoid pursuing treatment because of these mistaken notions.
However, this stigma is starting to disappear as more individuals become open to their hearing loss. Many individuals understand that hearing loss isn’t some kind of social failing, and the very small construction of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around people who unfortunately will not get over this stigma.
Unfortunately, this perception of social stigma can cause people in the early stages of hearing loss to avoid getting the treatment they need leading to more serious permanent hearing loss.
Treatment options for hearing loss-related fatigue
There are often no apparent symptoms of early phase hearing loss. That’s why hearing specialists prefer to take a preventative approach instead of the far more difficult and less effective reactive approach. For example, scheduling routine screenings with a hearing specialist before you notice symptoms can help create a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is achieved, early intervention is often a lot more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are some steps you can take to lessen that exhaustion as much as possible. Here are several of the most common and easiest steps:
- 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 an area with less background noise can make it easier for your brain to focus on the voice you’re attempting to hear, reducing fatigue in the process.
- Take breaks from conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet break somewhere. Your brain is working extra hard to engage in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Consult a hearing specialist: It’s important to monitor your hearing health. Seeing a hearing specialist can help you detect 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.
- Make sure you wear your hearing aids as often as you can: One of the primary functions of hearing aids is to clarify human speech, making understanding conversations a lot easier. This means your brain won’t need to work as hard and you won’t experience the same level of fatigue.
So if you’re feeling an abnormal amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no evident cause, it might be time to schedule a visit to your hearing specialist. You can minimize your fatigue and boost your energy by treating your hearing loss. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.