There are lots of potential causes of fatigue, everything from not being able to sleep at night to respiratory issues like sleep apnea. But many people are surprised to find out that chronic tiredness and exhaustion can also be caused by something relatively common: hearing loss.
To some extent, that’s because hearing loss can be a gradually-moving, subtle condition. You might find yourself continuously exhausted 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 frequently result in irritability and, eventually, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will frequently boost your energy levels, reducing tiredness and exhaustion.
Hearing loss moves slowly (and your brain compensates)
For most individuals, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that gets worse over time. You may not even recognize that you have a hearing impairment at first. If you aren’t specifically watching for them, even obvious symptoms, like cranking the volume on your audio devices way up, can be easy to overlook.
One of the more difficult to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often exhaustion. In spite of how much sleep you get, you could still feel exhausted. Unfortunately, many individuals don’t intuitively associate this symptom with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause occurs in your brain. Your brain has to work extra hard to process sound due to the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you fatigued. This constant extra work is exhausting in the same way that long periods of concentration can take a toll. Your ability to execute daily tasks and your total quality of life can be considerably affected over time as your neglected hearing loss gets worse.
The role of stigma
So when individuals start to feel tired, why wouldn’t they just go see a hearing specialist? There are many explanations: frequently individuals are busy or thinking about other things. But the perception of stigma is another reason which can be even more damaging. Individuals often feel as if others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that admitting it will ruin their lives. Individuals will often avoid pursuing treatment because of these false ideas.
However, as more individuals are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has started to fade. Many individuals understand that hearing loss isn’t some type of social failing, and the very small nature of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around folks who unfortunately will not let go of this stigma.
Unfortunately, this perception of social stigma can cause people in the early stages of hearing loss to put off on getting the treatment they need leading to more severe permanent hearing loss.
How to deal with hearing loss-associated fatigue
The earliest stages of hearing loss might not have any apparent symptoms. That’s why hearing specialists prefer to take a preventative strategy rather than the far more challenging and less effective reactive approach. Hearing specialists advocate for regular screenings in order to create a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be capable of identifying changes to your hearing in later screenings. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is often much more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are some steps you can take to minimize that exhaustion as much as possible. Some of the easiest and most common steps include the following:
- If you use hearing aids, wear them as frequently as you can: One of the chief functions of hearing aids is to clarify human speech, making understanding conversations a lot easier. This means your brain won’t need to work as hard and you will not experience the same level of fatigue.
- Schedule an assessment with a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the status of your hearing is important. When hearing loss is in its early phases, 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 have conversations in quieter places: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be challenging to sort out voices, even with hearing aids in some circumstances. Moving conversations to a location with less background noise can make it easier for your brain to focus on the voice you’re attempting to hear, lessening fatigue in the process.
- Give yourself a break in between conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet break somewhere. This can help your brain recover from all the work it’s doing and make everyday communication a little more sustainable.
It’s probably time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no evident cause. You can reduce your fatigue and boost your energy by treating your hearing loss. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be untreated.
