Tiredness can have a wide range of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems such as sleep apnea. But many individuals are surprised to find out that chronic tiredness and exhaustion can also be due to something fairly common: hearing loss.
In part, that’s because hearing loss can be a slow-moving, subtle condition. You might find yourself constantly fatigued for no apparent reason because you failed to recognize the symptoms of early hearing loss. This experience can be really frustrating. This fatigue can frequently turn into irritability which could cause you to socially isolate yourself. Fortunately, your energy levels will typically improve once you get your hearing loss treated.
Your brain will compensate for slowly progressing hearing loss
For the majority of people, hearing loss is a very slow-moving condition that gets worse over time. You might not even recognize that you have a hearing loss at first. Even prevalent symptoms, like cranking up the volume on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you’re not watching for them.
One of the harder to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often fatigue. In spite of how much rest you get, you could still feel exhausted. This symptom, unfortunately, isn’t typically associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause takes place in your brain, the symptoms aren’t usually considered an ear issue. When your ears aren’t receiving as much information, your brain works harder 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 perform daily tasks and your total quality of life can be considerably affected over time as your neglected hearing loss grows worse.
Stigma plays a role
So when people begin to feel fatigue, why wouldn’t they just go see a hearing specialist? There are many explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But the perception of stigma is another cause which can be even more damaging. There’s an impression that hearing loss is bad or ruins your life or that there’s nothing you can do about it. Individuals will often avoid seeking treatment because of these mistaken notions.
However, this stigma is starting to fade away as more individuals become open to their hearing loss. It’s becoming a more prevalent understanding that hearing loss can happen to individuals of all ages and today’s hearing aids are small enough that the few people who can’t get over this stigma won’t even see them.
Unfortunately, this perception of social stigma can cause individuals in the early stages of hearing loss to avoid getting the treatment they need leading to more severe permanent hearing loss.
Treatment options for hearing loss-related fatigue
There are often no noticeable symptoms of early stage hearing loss. That makes it difficult to effectively take a reactive approach, and it’s why many hearing specialists favor preventative approaches. Hearing specialists recommend 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 subsequent screenings. Once this baseline is achieved, early intervention is often a lot more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are a few steps you can take to lessen that exhaustion as much as possible. Some of the simplest and most common measures include the following:
- If you have hearing aids, wear them as often as you can: One of the primary 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.
- Take breaks from conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and recharge in between conversations. Your brain is working overtime to participate in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Schedule a consultation with a hearing specialist: It’s important to keep tabs on your hearing health. When hearing loss is in its early phases, your brain doesn’t need 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.
- Try to have conversations in quieter spots: Distinguishing voices from background noise can be difficult when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re using hearing aids or not). 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 most likely time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no apparent cause. Treating hearing loss can help you reduce your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be neglected.
