Fatigue can have a variety of causes, ranging from a simple sleepless night to respiratory problems such as sleep apnea. But many individuals are surprised to find out that chronic fatigue and exhaustion can also be a result of something fairly common: hearing loss.
That’s at least partly because of the fact that hearing loss usually develops gradually over time. You might not immediately distinguish the symptoms and, as a result, you may feel as though you’re constantly tired for no reason. This can be a frustrating experience. In addition, this exhaustion can frequently lead to irritability and, ultimately, social isolation. The good news is that treating your hearing loss will often boost your energy levels, mitigating tiredness and exhaustion.
Hearing loss moves slowly (and your brain compensates)
Hearing loss is normally a slowly progressing condition that gets worse over time. You may not even realize that you have a hearing loss at first. Even common symptoms, like cranking the volume up on your TV and smartphone, can be easy to miss if you’re not looking for them.
One of the harder to miss symptoms of hearing loss is often fatigue. You might feel depleted no matter how much rest you got the night before. This symptom, regrettably, isn’t usually associated with hearing loss.
Because the cause happens in your brain, the symptoms aren’t generally considered an ear problem. Your brain has to work overtime to process sound because of the loss of your ability to hear, which can leave you fatigued. Just as sustained periods of intense concentration can leave you fatigued, the additional brain power required to hear what individuals are saying can be exhausting. Left neglected, this fatigue can grow worse over time, affecting your quality of life and your ability to execute daily routine activities.
Stigma plays a role
So why don’t more people just visit a hearing specialist when they start feeling fatigued? There are many explanations: often people are busy or thinking about other things. But there’s another reason that might inevitably be more detrimental: stigma. People frequently feel as if 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 stop many people from finding treatment.
However, as more individuals are open about their hearing loss experience, the stigma has begun to disappear. Many individuals understand that hearing loss is not some type of social failing, and the very small nature of modern hearing aids makes them easy to hide around people who unfortunately will not get over this stigma.
Unfortunately, this perception of social stigma can cause people in the early stages of hearing loss to put off on getting the treatment they need leading to more severe permanent hearing loss.
How to manage hearing loss-associated fatigue
The earliest stages of hearing loss might not have any evident symptoms. That’s why hearing specialists favor taking a preventative approach instead of the far more difficult and less effective reactive approach. For example, scheduling regular screenings with a hearing specialist before you detect symptoms can help establish a baseline of what your healthy hearing looks like. Once this baseline is established, early intervention is frequently far more effective.
You can lessen hearing loss related exhaustion by taking a few proactive steps. A few of the easiest and most common steps include the following:
- 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.
- Consult a hearing specialist: It’s important to monitor your hearing health. When hearing loss is in its early phases, 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.
- Try to locate more quiet, secluded areas for conversations: When there is a lot of background noise, it can be challenging to sort out voices, even with hearing aids in some cases. It will be easier, and less fatiguing, to understand conversations if you move them to a quieter place.
- Be sure you use your hearing aids as frequently as you can: Hearing aids are designed 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 have to work as hard and you will not experience the same degree of fatigue.
It’s probably time to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist if you’re experiencing exhaustion with no evident cause. Treating hearing loss can help you minimize your exhaustion and boost your energy. Don’t let stigma cause your hearing loss to continue to be untreated.