Tiredness can have a wide variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory conditions such as sleep apnea. But many people are surprised to find out that chronic fatigue and exhaustion can also be a result of something relatively common: hearing loss.
That’s at least partially due to the fact that hearing loss normally develops slowly over time. You may find yourself continuously fatigued for no apparent reason because you failed to recognize the symptoms of early hearing loss. This can be a frustrating experience. Additionally, this exhaustion can frequently lead to irritability and, ultimately, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will frequently boost your energy levels, mitigating tiredness and exhaustion.
Your brain will compensate for slowly developing hearing loss
Hearing loss is normally a gradually developing condition that grows worse over time. In its early phases, you likely won’t even notice that you’re developing hearing loss. Even common symptoms, like cranking up the volume on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you aren’t watching for them.
One of the more difficult to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often fatigue. Regardless of how much rest you get, you could still feel exhausted. Unfortunately, many people don’t intuitively associate this symptom with hearing loss.
Because the cause occurs in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear issue. Your brain needs to work extra hard to process sound because of the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you exhausted. Just as prolonged periods of intense concentration can leave you worn out, the extra brain power needed to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Your ability to execute daily tasks and your total quality of life can be significantly impacted over time as your untreated hearing loss gets worse.
Stigma plays a role
So when individuals begin to feel tired, why wouldn’t they just visit a hearing specialist? One partial explanation is that individuals just don’t associate tiredness with hearing loss. But there’s another reason that might ultimately be more detrimental: stigma. There’s a feeling that hearing loss is terrible or ruins your life or that there’s nothing you can do about it. People will frequently avoid seeking treatment because of these mistaken ideas.
However, this stigma is starting to disappear as more people become open to their hearing loss. Many people understand that hearing loss is not some kind of social failing, and the very small nature of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around folks who unfortunately will not get over this stigma.
Unfortunately, this perception of social stigma can cause individuals in the early stages of hearing loss to put off on getting the treatment they need leading to more severe permanent hearing loss.
Solutions for hearing loss-related fatigue
There are frequently no noticeable symptoms of early phase hearing loss. That makes it challenging to effectively take a reactive approach, and it’s why many hearing specialists prefer preventative approaches. For instance, scheduling regular screenings with a hearing specialist before you detect symptoms can help create a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is frequently far 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. Here are a few of the most prevalent and easiest steps:
- If you have hearing aids, wear them as often as you can: One of the main functions of hearing aids is to clarify human speech, making understanding conversations a lot easier. This means you won’t be as tired because your brain won’t need to work so hard.
- Try to have conversations in quieter spots: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be difficult to sort out voices, even with hearing aids in some circumstances. It will be easier, and less tiring, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter place.
- Consult a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the status of your hearing is important. Seeing a hearing specialist can help you identify hearing loss in its early stages when it’s less of a problem and your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to compensate.
- Take breaks from conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. This can help your brain recuperate from all the work it’s doing and make day-to-day communication a little more sustainable.
So if you’re dealing with an abnormal amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no evident cause, it may be time to plan a visit to your hearing specialist. You can reduce your fatigue and boost your energy by treating your hearing loss. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.