There are a number of potential causes of exhaustion, everything from the inability to sleep at night to respiratory problems like sleep apnea. But many people are surprised to find out that persistent tiredness and exhaustion can also be a result of something fairly common: hearing loss.
That’s at least partially due to the fact that hearing loss usually 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 can be a frustrating experience. In addition, this exhaustion can often lead to irritability and, ultimately, social isolation. Luckily, your energy levels will typically increase once you get your hearing loss treated.
Hearing loss progresses slowly (and your brain compensates)
For the majority of people, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that grows worse over time. You might not even realize that you have a hearing impairment at first. 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.
Fatigue is one of the most obvious symptoms of hearing loss. In spite of how much rest you get, you could still feel fatigued. Unfortunately, many individuals don’t intuitively link this symptom with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause occurs in your brain. When your ears aren’t receiving as much information, your brain works harder to comprehend it all. In the same way as extended periods of intense concentration can leave you tired, the additional brain power required to hear what people are saying can be exhausting. Left untreated, this fatigue can get worse over time, impacting your quality of life and your ability to execute daily routine tasks.
The role of stigma
So why don’t more people just consult a hearing specialist when they begin feeling tired? One partial explanation is that people just don’t associate fatigue with hearing loss. But the notion of stigma is another cause which can be even more detrimental. Individuals frequently feel as if others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that acknowledging it will ruin their lives. All of these things are untrue, and they stop many individuals from finding treatment.
However, as more individuals are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to disappear. It’s becoming a more prevalent 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 get over 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 resulting in more severe permanent hearing loss.
Treatment options for hearing loss-related fatigue
The earliest phases of hearing loss might not have any noticeable symptoms. That’s why hearing specialists prefer to take a preventative strategy instead of the far more challenging and less effective reactive approach. For example, scheduling routine screenings with a hearing specialist before you notice symptoms can help create a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is often a lot more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are some steps you can take to lessen that exhaustion as much as possible. A few of the easiest and most common measures include the following:
- Take breaks from conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. Your brain is working overtime to take part in conversation and brief rests will make that more sustainable.
- Try to locate more quiet, secluded spots for conversations: Distinguishing voices from background noise can be difficult when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re wearing hearing aids or not). It will be easier, and less tiring, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter place.
- Consult a hearing specialist: It’s important to monitor your hearing health. Visiting a hearing specialist can help you detect hearing loss in its early stages when it’s less of an issue and your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to compensate.
- Be sure you use your hearing aids as frequently as you can: Hearing aids are designed to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be considerably easier to understand when you are hearing them. This means you won’t be as fatigued because your brain won’t have to work so hard.
So if you’re experiencing an unusual amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no discernible 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 let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be neglected.
