There are numerous potential causes of tiredness, everything from not being able to sleep at night to respiratory issues like sleep apnea. But there is something more common that can also cause fatigue and that’s hearing loss.
That’s at least partially due to the fact that hearing loss usually develops slowly over time. You may not immediately distinguish the symptoms and, as a result, you may feel as though you are constantly tired for no reason. This experience can be very frustrating. In addition, this exhaustion can frequently result in irritability and, eventually, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will often boost your energy levels, reducing tiredness and exhaustion.
Hearing loss progresses gradually (and your brain compensates)
For most people, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that gets worse over time. In its early stages, you likely won’t even detect that you’re developing hearing loss. If you’re not 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 harder to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often fatigue. You might feel tired no matter how much sleep you got the night before. Unfortunately, many individuals don’t intuitively link this symptom with hearing loss.
Because the cause happens in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear problem. Your brain has to work extra hard to process sound because of the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you fatigued. In the same way as extended periods of intense concentration can leave you worn out, the additional brain power required to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Your ability to execute daily tasks and your total quality of life can be significantly affected over time as your untreated hearing loss gets worse.
The role of stigma
So why don’t more people just visit a hearing specialist when they start feeling tired? One partial explanation is that individuals just don’t connect 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. Individuals will often avoid pursuing treatment because of these mistaken ideas.
However, as more individuals are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to fade. Many individuals understand that hearing loss isn’t some type of social failing, and the very small construction of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around folks who sadly will not let go of this stigma.
It’s unfortunate that this social stigma can make it more difficult for people to find the care they need because this frequently results in hearing loss that grows worse over time when it might not have to.
How to deal with hearing loss-associated fatigue
The earliest phases of hearing loss may not have any apparent symptoms. That makes it difficult to effectively take a reactive strategy, and it’s why many hearing specialists favor preventative approaches. Hearing specialists advocate for routine screenings in order to create a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be able to identify 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 a few steps you can take to minimize that exhaustion as much as possible. Here are several of the most common and easiest steps:
- Try to have conversations in quieter spots: Sorting out voices from background noise can be challenging when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re using hearing aids or not). Moving conversations to a location with less background noise can make it easier for your brain to focus on the voice you’re trying to hear, minimizing fatigue in the process.
- Take breaks from conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet rest somewhere. Your brain is working extra hard to engage in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Make sure you wear your hearing aids as often as you can: Hearing aids are manufactured to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be considerably easier to make out when you are hearing them. This means your brain won’t need to work as hard and you won’t experience the same amount of fatigue.
- See a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the state of your hearing is important. Consulting 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 have to work as hard to compensate.
It’s most likely time to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no evident 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.