Fatigue can have a variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems like sleep apnea. But there is something more common that can also cause tiredness and that’s hearing loss.
That’s at least partly because of the fact that hearing loss normally develops gradually over time. You may find yourself continuously exhausted 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 frequently lead to irritability and, ultimately, social isolation. Fortunately, your energy levels will typically improve once you get your hearing loss treated.
Hearing loss moves slowly (and your brain compensates)
For the majority of individuals, hearing loss is a very gradually-progressing condition that gets worse over time. You might not even realize that you have a hearing loss at first. Even common symptoms, like cranking up the volume on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you’re not looking for them.
One of the more difficult to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often fatigue. You might feel depleted no matter how much rest you got the night before. Regrettably, many people don’t intuitively connect 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. This continual extra work is taxing in the same way that long periods of concentration can take a toll. Left untreated, this fatigue can grow worse over time, affecting your quality of life and your ability to perform daily routine tasks.
The role of stigma
So why don’t more people just consult a hearing specialist when they begin feeling tired? There are several explanations: often individuals are busy or thinking about other things. But there’s another reason that might ultimately be more detrimental: stigma. There’s an impression that hearing loss is bad or ruins your life or that there’s nothing that can be done about it. All of these things are untrue, and they stop many individuals from finding treatment.
However, this stigma is beginning to fade away as more people become open to their hearing loss. Many people understand that hearing loss isn’t some kind of social failing, and the very small construction of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around folks who unfortunately will not let go of this stigma.
It’s unfortunate that this social stigma can make it harder for people to find the care they need because this often results in hearing loss that grows worse over time when it might not need to.
How to manage hearing loss-associated fatigue
There are often no noticeable symptoms of early stage hearing loss. That makes it challenging to effectively take a reactive approach, and it’s why many hearing specialists prefer preventative approaches. Hearing specialists recommend regular screenings in order to establish 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 frequently much more effective.
You can minimize hearing loss related exhaustion by taking a few proactive measures. Here are several of the most common and easiest steps:
- If you use hearing aids, wear them as frequently as possible: 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 level of fatigue.
- Consult a hearing specialist: It’s important to monitor your hearing health. When hearing loss is in its early stages, 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 spots: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be difficult to sort out voices, even with hearing aids in some cases. It will be easier, and less exhausting, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter location.
- Give yourself a break in between conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and recharge in between conversations. This can help your brain recover from all the work it’s doing and make day-to-day communication a bit more sustainable.
It’s most likely time to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing fatigue with no obvious cause. Treating hearing loss can help you lessen your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.