There are a number of potential causes of exhaustion, everything from not being able to sleep at night to respiratory problems like sleep apnea. But many individuals are surprised to find out that chronic fatigue and exhaustion can also be due to something relatively common: hearing loss.
To some extent, that’s because hearing loss can be a gradually-moving, subtle condition. You may find yourself continuously exhausted for no apparent reason because you failed to detect the symptoms of early hearing loss. This experience can be really frustrating. In addition, this exhaustion can often lead to irritability and, eventually, social isolation. Fortunately, your energy levels will usually improve once you get your hearing loss treated.
Your brain will compensate for slowly developing hearing loss
Hearing loss is usually a slowly developing condition that grows worse over time. In its early stages, you likely won’t even detect that you’re developing hearing loss. Even prevalent 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 exhaustion. Regardless of how much rest you get, you could still feel exhausted. This symptom, unfortunately, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
That’s because the cause happens in your brain. When your ears aren’t getting as much information, your brain works harder to make sense of it all. This continual extra work is taxing in the same way that extended periods of concentration can take a toll. Your ability to complete daily tasks and your overall quality of life can be considerably affected over time as your untreated hearing loss gets worse.
The role of stigma
So when people begin to feel fatigue, why wouldn’t they simply consult a hearing specialist? There are many explanations: frequently individuals are busy or thinking about other things. But the perception of stigma is another cause which can be even more detrimental. People often feel like others will think they’re old if they have hearing loss and that admitting it will ruin their lives. All of these things are false, and they prevent many individuals from seeking treatment.
However, this stigma is beginning to fade away as more people become open to their hearing loss. It’s becoming a more prevalent understanding that hearing loss can happen to individuals of all ages and today’s hearing aids are small enough that the few people who can’t get over this stigma won’t even see them.
Regrettably, 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 serious permanent hearing loss.
Solutions for hearing loss-related fatigue
The earliest phases of hearing loss may not have any evident symptoms. That’s why hearing specialists prefer to take a preventative approach rather than the far more difficult and less effective reactive approach. Hearing specialists recommend routine screenings in order to establish a baseline of your healthy hearing, that way they will be able to identify changes to your hearing in subsequent screenings. Early treatment will be a lot more effective once we have determined that baseline.
If your hearing loss is causing fatigue, there are a few steps you can take to lessen that exhaustion as much as possible. Here are a few of the most common and simplest steps:
- See a hearing specialist: Keeping an eye on the condition of your hearing is important. Seeing 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 have to work as hard to compensate.
- Give yourself a rest in between conversations: Give yourself some quiet time to rest and refresh in between conversations. This can help your brain recover from all the work it’s doing and make everyday communication a little more sustainable.
- Try to find more quiet, secluded areas for conversations: Distinguishing voices from background noise can be challenging when you have hearing loss (often whether you’re wearing hearing aids or not). It will be easier, and less fatiguing, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter place.
- If you have hearing aids, wear them 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 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 abnormal amount of fatigue and tiredness, with no evident cause, it might be time to schedule a visit to your hearing specialist. Treating hearing loss can help you minimize your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t neglect your hearing loss because you’re afraid of the stigma.
