It’s not fun when you’re unable to sleep at night. Especially when it happens frequently. You toss and turn and probably stare at the clock (or your phone) and worry about just how fatigued you’ll be the next day. When these types of sleepless nights routinely occur, medical professionals tend to use the label “insomnia”. Over time, the effects of persistent insomnia will add up, negatively impacting your general health.
And, maybe not surprisingly, “your general health” includes the health of your hearing. Yup, your hearing can be negatively impacted by insomnia! This isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship, but that doesn’t mean there’s no connection between hearing loss and insomnia.
Can your hearing be affected by lack of sleep?
How could loss of sleep possibly impact your hearing? According to considerable research, your cardiovascular system can be influenced by insomnia over a long period of time. It becomes harder for your blood to flow into all of the extremities of your body when you don’t get the renewing power of a good night’s sleep.
Insomnia also means an increase in stress and anxiety. Feeling anxious and stressed will impact you in physiological ways as well as mentally.
So how is that relevant to hearing loss? Your ears work because they’re filled with fragile little hairs called stereocilia. When sound waves vibrate these tiny hairs, signals are transmitted to your brain which translates these signals into sound.
When your circulatory system is not functioning properly, these hairs have a hard time remaining healthy. In some circumstances, poor circulation can damage these hairs, permanently. And once that happens, your hearing will be irrevocably damaged. Permanent hearing loss can be the consequences, and the longer the circulation issues persist, the worse the damage will be.
Is the reverse true?
Is it possible for hearing loss to make you lose sleep? It’s absolutely possible. Many people prefer a little background noise when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make your environment very quiet. This means that the quiet of hearing loss can in some cases prevent normal sleeping. Any amount of hearing loss stress (for instance, if you’re worried about losing your hearing) can have a similar impact.
So how can you get a good night’s sleep when you have hearing loss? Stress on your brain can be reduced by wearing your hearing aids during the day because you won’t be wearing them while you sleep. It can also be helpful if you follow some other sleep-health tips.
How to get a quality night’s sleep
- Avoid screens for at least an hour before going to bed: (Actually, the longer the better.) Screens have a tendency to stimulate your brain
- Exercise regularly: Your body needs to move, and if you aren’t moving, you could end up going to bed with some excess energy. Getting enough exercise daily can be really helpful.
- For at least 2 hours before bed, try to avoid liquids: Every time you need to get up and go to the bathroom, you begin the wake up process. So, sleeping through the night is better.
- Refrain from drinking alcohol before you go to bed: This will simply disrupt your existing sleep cycle.
- Stop drinking caffeine after midday: Even if you drink decaf, it still has enough caffeine to give you trouble sleeping. This includes soda too.
- Maintain your bedroom for sleeping (mostly): Try to minimize the amount of things you use your bedroom for. Working in your bedroom isn’t a very good idea.
- Find ways to relieve stress: Get away from work and do something relaxing before bed.
Take care of your hearing health
Even if you’ve experienced some insomnia-associated symptoms before, and have some hearing loss, your symptoms can still be managed.
Make an appointment for a hearing exam today!
