There are lots of possible causes of exhaustion, everything from being unable to sleep at night to respiratory issues like sleep apnea. But many people are surprised to learn that persistent tiredness 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 might find yourself continuously fatigued for no apparent reason because you failed to detect the symptoms of early hearing loss. This experience can be really frustrating. In addition, this exhaustion can often lead to irritability and, ultimately, social isolation. Fortunately, your energy levels will normally increase once you get your hearing loss treated.
Your brain will compensate for gradually progressing hearing loss
For most people, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that grows worse over time. You may not even realize that you have a hearing impairment at first. Even common symptoms, like cranking up the volume on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you aren’t looking for them.
Exhaustion is one of the most obvious symptoms of hearing loss. You may feel depleted no matter how much sleep you got the night before. This symptom, unfortunately, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause takes place in your brain. When your ears aren’t getting as much information, your brain works harder to make sense of it all. Just as prolonged periods of intense concentration can leave you tired, the extra brain power required to hear what people are saying can be exhausting. Left neglected, this exhaustion can get 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 people just visit a hearing specialist when they begin feeling fatigued? There are many explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But the perception of stigma is another cause which can be even more detrimental. There’s an impression that hearing loss is bad or ruins your life or that there’s nothing you can do about it. All of these things are false, and they stop many individuals from finding treatment.
However, this stigma is starting to fade away as more people become open to their hearing loss. It’s becoming a more prevalent understanding that hearing loss can happen to individuals of all ages and today’s hearing aids are small enough that the few people who can’t let go of this stigma won’t even notice them.
Unfortunately, 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.
Solutions for hearing loss-related fatigue
The earliest stages of hearing loss may not have any apparent symptoms. That makes it challenging to effectively take a reactive strategy, and it’s why many hearing specialists prefer preventative approaches. For instance, scheduling routine screenings with a hearing specialist before you notice symptoms can help establish 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 several of the most prevalent and easiest steps:
- Be sure you wear your hearing aids as often as you can: Hearing aids are designed to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be substantially easier to make out when you are hearing them. This means your brain won’t need to work as hard and you will not experience the same amount of fatigue.
- Take breaks from conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. Your brain is working overtime to participate in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Try to find more quiet, secluded areas for conversations: 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 fatiguing, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter area.
- Schedule a consultation with a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the condition of your hearing is important. Consulting 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.
It’s probably time to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no evident cause. Treating hearing loss can help you lessen your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be neglected.
