Fatigue can have a variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory conditions such as sleep apnea. But many people are surprised to learn that persistent fatigue and exhaustion can also be due to something relatively common: hearing loss.
That’s at least partly because of the fact that hearing loss usually develops gradually over time. You may find yourself constantly fatigued for no apparent reason because you failed to detect the symptoms of early hearing loss. This experience can be quite frustrating. This fatigue can often turn into irritability which could cause you to socially seclude yourself. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will frequently boost your energy levels, mitigating tiredness and exhaustion.
Hearing loss moves slowly (and your brain compensates)
Hearing loss is typically a slowly progressing condition that gets worse over time. In its early stages, you probably won’t even detect that you’re developing hearing loss. If you aren’t specifically watching for them, even obvious symptoms, like turning the volume on your audio devices way up, can be easy to overlook.
Exhaustion is one of the most noticeable symptoms of hearing loss. No matter how much sleep you get, you could still feel exhausted. This symptom, unfortunately, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause occurs in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear problem. Your brain needs to work extra hard to process sound due to the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you exhausted. Just as extended periods of intense concentration can leave you fatigued, the additional brain power required to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Left untreated, this fatigue can grow worse over time, affecting your quality of life and your ability to perform daily routine tasks.
Stigma plays a role
So why don’t more individuals just go see a hearing specialist when they begin feeling tired? There are several explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But there’s another reason that might ultimately be more damaging: stigma. People often feel like others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that acknowledging it will ruin their lives. Individuals will often avoid seeking treatment because of these false notions.
However, as more people are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to disappear. Many individuals understand that hearing loss is not some kind of social failing, and the very small construction of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around people who sadly will not get over this stigma.
It’s unfortunate that this social stigma can make it harder for people to find the care they need because this often leads to hearing loss that gets worse over time when it might not have to.
Treatment options for hearing loss-related fatigue
The earliest phases of hearing loss may not have any evident symptoms. That makes it challenging 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 achieved, early intervention is frequently far more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are a few steps you can take to lessen that exhaustion as much as possible. Some of the simplest and most common measures include the following:
- 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.
- Try to have conversations in quieter areas: Distinguishing voices from background noise can be difficult when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re wearing 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, reducing fatigue in the process.
- See a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the state of your hearing is important. When hearing loss is in its early stages, your brain doesn’t have 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.
- If you have 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 you won’t be as fatigued because your brain won’t have to work so hard.
So if you’re dealing with an abnormal amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no evident cause, it may be time to plan a visit to your hearing specialist. You can lessen your fatigue and boost your energy by treating your hearing loss. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.