Sleepless nights are no fun. And when it happens frequnetly, it’s particularly vexing. You toss and turn and probably stare at the clock (or your phone) and stress about just how fatigued you’ll be the next day. When these types of sleepless nights persistently happen, medical professionals tend to use the term “insomnia”. Over time, the effects of chronic insomnia will compound, negatively impacting your overall health.
And, perhaps not surprisingly, “your overall health” includes your hearing health. That’s right, insomnia can have an impact on your ability to hear. This isn’t generally a cause-and-effect relationship, but that doesn’t mean there’s no link between hearing loss and insomnia.
Can your hearing be affected by lack of sleep?
How could loss of sleep possibly impact your hearing? There’s a significant amount of research that indicates insomnia, over a long enough period, can affect your cardiovascular system. It becomes more difficult for your blood to flow into all of the extremities of your body when you don’t get the regenerative power of a good night’s sleep.
Insomnia also means an increase in anxiety and stress. Being stressed and anxious are not only mental states, they’re physiological states, also.
So how is that relevant to hearing loss? There are tiny hairs inside of your ears known as stereocilia. When sound waves vibrate these tiny hairs, signals are sent to your brain which translates these signals into sound.
When your circulatory system isn’t working correctly, these hairs have a hard time remaining healthy. These hairs can, in some cases, be irreversibly damaged. Damage of this kind is permanent. Permanent hearing loss can be the result, and the longer the circulation issues persist, the worse the damage will be.
Does it also work the other way around?
If insomnia can affect your hearing health, can hearing loss stop you from getting a good night’s sleep? Yes, it can! Many individuals favor a little background noise when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make your environment very quiet. For individuals in this category, that amount of quiet can make it really difficult to get a quality night’s sleep. Any kind of hearing loss stress (for instance, if you’re worried about losing your hearing) can have a similar effect.
If you have hearing loss, what can you do to get a quality night’s sleep? Wearing your hearing aids every day can help reduce stress on your brain at night (when you’re not wearing them). Adhering to other sleep-health tips can also be helpful.
Some guidelines for a good night’s sleep
- Exercise regularly: You might go to bed with some extra energy if you don’t get enough exercise. Being active every day can help.
- Try not to use your bedroom for other activities other than sleeping: Try to limit the amount of things you utilize your bedroom for. Working in your bedroom is not a great idea.
- Before bed, avoid drinking alcohol: This will simply interrupt your existing sleep cycle.
- Don’t drink caffeine after lunch.: Even decaf coffee has enough caffeine in it to keep you awake at night if you drink it late enough. This includes soda also.
- Find ways to relieve stress: It might not be possible to get rid of every stressor from your life, but giving yourself time to unwind is essential. Do something relaxing before bed.
- For at least a couple of hours before bed, try to avoid liquids: Every time you need to get up and go to the bathroom, you initiate the wake up process. It’s better to sleep right through the night.
- Steer clear of screens for at least 1 hour before going to bed: (Even longer if possible!) Your brain tends to be stimulated by looking at screens.
Take care of your hearing health
Even if you have experienced some insomnia-associated symptoms before, and have some hearing loss, your symptoms can still be controlled.
Schedule an appointment for a hearing test today!
