There are a number of possible causes of tiredness, everything from the inability to sleep at night to respiratory problems like sleep apnea. But there is something more common that can also be the cause of fatigue and that’s hearing loss.
That’s at least partially due to the fact that hearing loss usually develops slowly over time. You may find yourself continuously exhausted for no apparent reason because you failed to recognize the symptoms of early hearing loss. This can be a frustrating experience. 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
For most people, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that gets worse over time. In its early stages, you likely won’t even detect that you’re developing hearing loss. Even common symptoms, like cranking the volume up on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you’re not looking for them.
One of the harder to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often fatigue. You might feel tired no matter how much sleep you got the night before. Unfortunately, many people don’t intuitively connect this symptom with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause happens in your brain. When your ears aren’t getting as much information, your brain works harder to comprehend it all. Just as sustained periods of intense concentration can leave you tired, the extra brain power needed to hear what people are saying can be exhausting. Left untreated, this fatigue can grow worse over time, impacting your quality of life and your ability to complete daily routine activities.
The role of stigma
So why don’t more individuals just go see a hearing specialist when they begin feeling fatigued? There are many explanations: often individuals are busy or thinking about other things. But the notion of stigma is another reason which can be even more detrimental. There’s an impression that hearing loss is bad or ruins your life or that there’s nothing that can be done about it. People will often avoid pursuing treatment because of these false notions.
However, as more people are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has started to fade. Many individuals understand that hearing loss isn’t some type of social failing, and the very small construction of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around folks who unfortunately will not let go of this stigma.
Regrettably, 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 frequently no apparent symptoms of early stage hearing loss. That’s why hearing specialists prefer to take a preventative approach instead of the far more challenging and less effective reactive approach. For instance, scheduling routine screenings with a hearing specialist before you notice symptoms can help create a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Early treatment will be a lot more effective after we have identified that baseline.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are a few steps you can take to minimize that exhaustion as much as possible. A few of the simplest and most common steps include the following:
- 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). It will be easier, and less tiring, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter area.
- Take breaks from conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet break somewhere. Your brain is working extra hard to take part in conversation and brief rests will make that more sustainable.
- See a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the condition of your hearing is important. Visiting a hearing specialist can help you identify 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.
- If you use hearing aids, wear them as often as possible: 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 your brain won’t need to work as hard and you won’t experience the same amount of fatigue.
So if you’re dealing with an abnormal amount of exhaustion and tiredness, with no evident cause, it may be time to plan a visit to your hearing specialist. Treating hearing loss can help you minimize your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.
