Fatigue can have a wide variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory conditions such as sleep apnea. But many individuals are surprised to find out that persistent tiredness and exhaustion can also be due to something fairly common: hearing loss.
That’s at least partially due to the fact that hearing loss normally develops slowly over time. You might not immediately distinguish the symptoms and, as a result, you might feel as though you are constantly tired for no reason. 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 improve your energy levels, mitigating tiredness and exhaustion.
Hearing loss moves slowly (and your brain compensates)
Hearing loss is usually a gradually progressing condition that grows worse over time. In its early phases, you likely won’t even notice that you’re developing hearing loss. If you’re not specifically watching for them, even conspicuous symptoms, like turning the volume on your audio devices way up, can be easy to overlook.
One of the harder to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often exhaustion. You might feel depleted no matter how much sleep you got the night before. This symptom, regrettably, isn’t typically associated with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause happens in your brain. Your brain needs to work overtime to process sound due to the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you fatigued. Just as extended periods of intense concentration can leave you worn out, the extra brain power required to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Your ability to perform daily tasks and your overall quality of life can be significantly 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? One partial explanation is that people just don’t associate tiredness with hearing loss. But the notion of stigma is another cause which can be even more detrimental. 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 often avoid seeking treatment because of these mistaken ideas.
However, this stigma is beginning to fade away as more individuals become open to their hearing loss. Many people understand that hearing loss isn’t some kind of social failing, and the very small construction of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around people who unfortunately will not get over this stigma.
Regrettably, 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.
Treatment options for hearing loss-related fatigue
The earliest phases of hearing loss might not have any apparent symptoms. That makes it difficult to effectively take a reactive strategy, and it’s why many hearing specialists prefer preventative approaches. Hearing specialists advocate for regular screenings in order to create a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be able to identify changes to your hearing in subsequent screenings. Early treatment will be much more effective once we have determined that baseline.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are some steps you can take to minimize that exhaustion as much as possible. A few of the easiest and most common steps include the following:
- Give yourself a break in between conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and recharge in between conversations. Your brain is working overtime to engage in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- 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 an area with less background noise can make it easier for your brain to focus on the voice you’re trying to hear, reducing fatigue in the process.
- Be certain you wear your hearing aids as frequently as you can: Hearing aids are manufactured to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be substantially easier to understand when you are hearing them. This means your brain won’t need to work as hard and you won’t experience the same degree of fatigue.
- Consult a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the state of your hearing is essential. Seeing a hearing specialist can help you detect 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.
It’s probably time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no apparent cause. You can lessen your fatigue and boost your energy by treating your hearing loss. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be untreated.