There are numerous potential causes of exhaustion, 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.
In part, that’s because hearing loss can be a slow-moving, subtle condition. You may find yourself constantly fatigued for no apparent reason because you failed to detect the symptoms of early hearing loss. This can be a frustrating experience. Additionally, this exhaustion can often result in irritability and, eventually, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will frequently boost your energy levels, reducing fatigue and exhaustion.
Your brain will compensate for gradually developing hearing loss
For the majority of individuals, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that grows worse over time. In its early stages, you probably won’t even notice 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’re not looking for them.
Fatigue is one of the most obvious symptoms of hearing loss. You might feel tired no matter how much sleep you got the night before. This symptom, regrettably, isn’t typically associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause takes place in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear issue. Your brain needs to work overtime to process sound due to the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you fatigued. This continual extra work is taxing in the same way that extended periods of concentration can take a toll. Your ability to execute daily tasks and your total quality of life can be substantially impacted over time as your untreated hearing loss gets worse.
The role of stigma
So why don’t more people just consult a hearing specialist when they start feeling tired? There are several explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But there’s another reason that may ultimately be more detrimental: stigma. People frequently feel like others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that admitting it will ruin their lives. Individuals will frequently avoid seeking treatment because of these false notions.
However, this stigma is starting to fade away as more people become open to their hearing loss. It’s becoming a more common understanding that hearing loss can happen to people 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 see them.
It’s unfortunate that this social stigma can make it more difficult for people to find the care they need because this frequently leads to hearing loss that gets worse over time when it may not need to.
How to manage hearing loss-associated fatigue
There are frequently no noticeable 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. Hearing specialists recommend routine screenings in order to establish a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be capable of identifying changes to your hearing in later screenings. Early treatment will be much more effective once we have identified that baseline.
You can minimize hearing loss related exhaustion by taking a few proactive measures. A few of the simplest and most common measures include the following:
- Give yourself a rest in between conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. Your brain is working extra hard to engage in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Try to have conversations in quieter areas: Distinguishing voices from background noise can be difficult when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re using hearing aids or not). It will be easier, and less tiring, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter spot.
- Schedule an assessment with a hearing specialist: It’s important to keep tabs on your hearing health. When hearing loss is in its early phases, your brain doesn’t have to work as hard as it does when the condition gets worse, and a hearing specialist can identify hearing loss when it first begins to develop.
- If you use hearing aids, wear them as frequently as you can: Hearing aids are manufactured to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be significantly easier to understand when you are hearing them. This means your brain won’t need to work as hard and you will not experience the same degree of fatigue.
So if you’re feeling an unusual amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no evident cause, it may be time to plan a visit to your hearing specialist. You can minimize your fatigue and boost your energy by treating your hearing loss. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be neglected.