Fatigue can have a variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems like sleep apnea. But there is something more common that can also cause fatigue and that’s hearing loss.
That’s at least partly due to the fact that hearing loss usually develops gradually over time. You may not immediately distinguish the symptoms and, as a result, you might feel as if you’re constantly tired for no reason. This experience can be very frustrating. In addition, this exhaustion can often result in irritability and, eventually, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will often boost your energy levels, mitigating tiredness and exhaustion.
Your brain will compensate for slowly developing hearing loss
For most individuals, hearing loss is a very slow-moving condition that gets worse over time. In its early phases, you likely won’t even detect that you’re developing hearing loss. Even prevalent symptoms, like cranking up the volume on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you aren’t watching for them.
Exhaustion is one of the most obvious symptoms of hearing loss. You might feel tired no matter how much rest you got the night before. This symptom, unfortunately, isn’t typically associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause happens in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear problem. When your ears aren’t receiving as much information, your brain works harder to comprehend it all. This continual extra work is taxing in the same way that prolonged periods of concentration can take a toll. Left neglected, this fatigue can grow worse over time, impacting your quality of life and your ability to perform daily routine activities.
The role of stigma
So why don’t more individuals just visit a hearing specialist when they begin feeling fatigued? One partial explanation is that individuals just don’t associate tiredness with hearing loss. But the perception of stigma is another reason which can be even more detrimental. People frequently feel as if others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that acknowledging it will ruin their lives. 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. It’s becoming a more common understanding that hearing loss can happen to individuals of all ages and modern hearing aids are small enough that the few people who can’t let go of this stigma won’t even notice them.
It’s unfortunate that this social stigma can make it harder for people to find the care they need because this often leads to hearing loss that gets worse over time when it might not need to.
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 rather than the far more difficult and less effective reactive approach. For example, scheduling regular screenings with a hearing specialist before you detect symptoms can help establish a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is frequently a lot more effective.
You can lessen hearing loss associated exhaustion by taking a few proactive measures. Here are several of the most common and easiest steps:
- Consult a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the status of your hearing is essential. When hearing loss is in its early stages, your brain doesn’t need to work as hard as it does when the condition worsens, and a hearing specialist can identify hearing loss when it first begins to develop.
- Try to locate more quiet, isolated spots for conversations: 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 an area with less background noise can make it easier for your brain to focus on the voice you’re trying to hear, minimizing fatigue in the process.
- If you use 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 your brain won’t need to work as hard and you will not experience the same level of fatigue.
- Take breaks from conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet break somewhere. Your brain is working extra hard to engage in conversation and brief rests will make that more sustainable.
So if you’re feeling an unusual amount of exhaustion and tiredness, with no apparent cause, it might be time to plan a visit to your hearing specialist. Treating hearing loss can help you reduce your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.