There are a number of potential causes of tiredness, everything from being unable to sleep at 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 partially due to the fact that hearing loss normally develops slowly over time. You may not immediately detect the symptoms and, as a result, you may feel as if you are constantly tired for no reason. This can be a frustrating experience. This fatigue can frequently turn into irritability which could cause you to socially seclude yourself. Fortunately, your energy levels will typically increase once you get your hearing loss treated.
Hearing loss progresses gradually (and your brain compensates)
For the majority of people, hearing loss is a very gradually-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’re not specifically watching for them, even conspicuous symptoms, like turning the volume on your audio devices way up, can be easy to miss.
Fatigue is one of the most obvious symptoms of hearing loss. You may feel depleted no matter how much rest you got the night before. Unfortunately, many people don’t instinctively link this symptom with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause happens in your brain. Your brain has to work overtime to process sound because of the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you exhausted. This continual extra work is taxing in the same way that prolonged periods of concentration can take a toll. Left untreated, this fatigue can get worse over time, impacting your quality of life and your ability to perform daily routine activities.
The role of stigma
So when people start to feel fatigue, why wouldn’t they simply go see a hearing specialist? One partial reason is that people just don’t associate tiredness with hearing loss. But the perception of stigma is another reason which can be even more damaging. People often feel like others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that acknowledging it will ruin their lives. All of these things are false, and they stop many people from seeking treatment.
However, as more people are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to fade. It’s becoming a more common understanding that hearing loss can happen to individuals of all ages and modern hearing aids are discreet enough that the few people who can’t let go of this stigma won’t even notice them.
It’s a shame 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 gets worse over time when it may not have to.
Treatment options for hearing loss-related fatigue
There are often no noticeable symptoms of early phase hearing loss. That makes it difficult to effectively take a reactive strategy, and it’s why many hearing specialists prefer preventative techniques. Hearing specialists advocate for routine screenings in order to establish 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 frequently far more effective.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are some steps you can take to minimize that exhaustion as much as possible. A few of the simplest and most common steps include the following:
- If you use hearing aids, wear them as often as possible: Hearing aids are designed to help you focus on the sounds of human speech, meaning conversation will be significantly easier to make out when you are hearing them. This means you won’t be as tired because your brain won’t have to work so hard.
- Give yourself a break in between conversations: In between conversation, take a quiet break somewhere. Your brain is working extra hard to participate in conversation and brief breaks will make that more sustainable.
- Try to find more quiet, isolated areas for conversations: Distinguishing voices from background noise can be challenging when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re using hearing aids or not). Moving conversations to an area 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.
- Schedule an assessment with a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the condition of your hearing is essential. When hearing loss is in its early phases, your brain doesn’t need to work as hard as it does when the condition gets worse, and a hearing specialist can diagnose hearing loss when it first begins to develop.
It’s probably time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no obvious cause. Treating hearing loss can help you minimize your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re concerned about the stigma.