Sleepless nights aren’t any fun. Especially when it happens regularly. You lie awake tossing and turning, checking the time again and again, and worrying about how exhausted you will be tomorrow. Medical professionals call this kind of chronic sleeplessness “insomnia”. With insomnia, the downsides of not sleeping will then begin to compound and can, over time, have a negative impact on your overall health.
And, maybe not surprisingly, “your overall health” includes your hearing health. Yup, your hearing can be negatively impacted by insomnia! Though the relationship between hearing loss and insomnia may not be a cause-and-effect scenario, there’s still a link there.
Can your hearing be affected by lack of sleep?
How could loss of sleep possibly affect your hearing? There’s a considerable amount of research that indicates insomnia, over a long enough period, can affect your cardiovascular system. It becomes harder 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 stress and anxiety. Being stressed and anxious aren’t only mental states, they’re physiological states, too.
So how is that related to hearing loss? There are tiny hairs inside of your ears called 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 functioning properly, these hairs have a hard time remaining healthy. In some circumstances, poor circulation can damage these hairs, permanently. Damage of this type is permanent. Permanent hearing loss can be the result, and the longer the circulation issues continue, the worse the damage will be.
Does it also work the other way around?
Is it possible for hearing loss to make you lose sleep? It’s absolutely possible. Many individuals prefer a little background sound when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make your environment very quiet. For people in this category, that amount of silence can make it really hard to get a quality night’s sleep. Another way that hearing loss may cost you some sleep is if you find yourself stressed about losing your hearing.
So how do you get a good night’s sleep when you have hearing loss? Wearing your hearing aids every day can help minimize stress on your brain at night (when you’re not wearing them). It can also be helpful if you implement some other sleep-health tips.
Some recommendations for a quality night’s sleep
- Avoid using alcohol before you go to bed: Your natural sleep cycle will be interrupted by drinking alcohol before bed.
- Try not to utilize your bedroom for other activities other than sleeping: Your bedroom is for sleeping in, so try to keep it that way. Working in your bedroom isn’t a great idea.
- Avoid screens for at least an hour before going to bed: (Actually, the longer the better.) Screens have a tendency to activate your brain
- Exercise regularly: Your body needs to move, and if you aren’t moving, you may end up going to bed with a bit of excess energy. Getting enough exercise every day can be really helpful.
- Try to de-stress as much as you can: Get away from work and do something relaxing before bed.
- Stop drinking caffeine after noon: Even decaf coffee has enough caffeine in it to keep you awake at night if you drink at night. This includes soda as well.
- Avoid drinking liquids 2 hours before bed: Every time you need to get up and go to the bathroom, you begin the wake up process. So, sleeping through the night is much better.
Be aware of the health of your hearing
Even if you’ve experienced some insomnia-associated symptoms before, and have some hearing loss, your symptoms can still be controlled.
Make an appointment for a hearing exam today!
