Did you know fatigue is a common side effect of hearing loss? Listening can take up energy and effort and can sometimes be aggravating and exhausting. According to recent studies, almost 15% of people who do work are too exhausted by the end of the day to do things outside of work. The lack of energy caused by hearing loss often makes it hard to work or perform activities.
Your Brain and Auditory System – How It Works
There are three areas of the brain that work with the auditory system to assist in interpreting sound and produce speech: (1) the Broca’s area which helps in producing speech, (2) the Wernicke’s area which helps in comprehending speech and (3) the Temporal lobe which helps in managing your hearing. These areas of the brain work well together for a person with perfect hearing. For a person who has hearing loss, his/her brain has to work harder than the brain of a person with no hearing loss. The hearing loss will cause these areas of the brain to not work as well together; therefore, communication will be more difficult and lead to fatigue.
Tips for People Who Suffer from Hearing Loss Exhaustion
There are steps that you can take to overcome your hearing-loss exhaustion and to improve your productivity and increase your happiness. As with any lifestyle change, every individual is different, and a trial and error period may be necessary to find what works for you. For Copithorne, regular aerobic exercise and short midday naps helped him keep his energy levels from dipping. Other options include meditation, breathing exercises and yoga.
If you have untreated hearing loss and find yourself fatigued, seek treatment as this could make all the difference in your energy level. Even if a hearing aid is not absolutely essential to navigate daily life, your body exerts extra energy to compensate when you have a hearing deficit. If a hearing aid is likely in your near future, see a hearing care professional for a consult now—rather than waiting for your hearing to further decline. A hearing device could help your body conserve the energy it expends when you strain to hear. You may or may not be a hearing aid candidate now, but you will never know unless you see a specialist. A proper hearing test and consult with an audiologist may help to answer many of your questions and help alleviate any concerns that you may have about wearing a hearing aid.
Do you or a loved one suffer from hearing loss exhaustion? Do you still have questions about fatigue and hearing loss? Feel free to contact us today and schedule an appointment to speak with our hearing care professionals.