There are numerous potential causes of tiredness, everything from being unable 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.
To some extent, that’s because hearing loss can be a gradually-moving, subtle condition. You may find yourself constantly exhausted for no apparent reason because you failed to recognize the symptoms of early hearing loss. This experience can be quite frustrating. This exhaustion can frequently turn into irritability which could cause you to socially seclude yourself. Fortunately, your energy levels will typically increase once you get your hearing loss treated.
Your brain will compensate for gradually progressing hearing loss
For the majority of individuals, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that gets worse over time. In its early phases, you probably won’t even detect that you’re developing hearing loss. If you’re not specifically watching for them, even conspicuous symptoms, like cranking the volume on your audio devices way up, can be easy to miss.
Exhaustion is one of the most obvious symptoms of hearing loss. No matter how much sleep you get, you could still feel exhausted. Unfortunately, many people don’t instinctively link this symptom with hearing loss.
Because the cause happens in your brain, the symptoms aren’t usually considered an ear problem. When your ears aren’t receiving as much information, your brain works harder to comprehend it all. In the same way as extended periods of intense concentration can leave you fatigued, the extra brain power required 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.
The role of stigma
So why don’t more individuals just consult a hearing specialist when they begin feeling fatigued? There are several explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But there’s another reason that might ultimately be more detrimental: stigma. There’s an impression that hearing loss is terrible 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, as more individuals are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has started to disappear. It’s becoming a more common understanding that hearing loss can happen to people of all ages and today’s 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 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’s why hearing specialists prefer to take a preventative approach instead of the far more challenging and less effective reactive method. Hearing specialists recommend routine 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. Early treatment will be much more effective after we have determined that baseline.
You can lessen hearing loss related exhaustion by taking a few proactive steps. Here are a few of the most prevalent and easiest steps:
- Try to have conversations in quieter places: 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.
- See a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the state of your hearing is essential. Visiting 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.
- Be sure you wear your hearing aids 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 your brain won’t have to work as hard and you won’t experience the same degree of fatigue.
- Give yourself a rest in between conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. Your brain is working overtime to engage in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
So if you’re dealing with an unusual amount of exhaustion 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.