Sleepless nights are no fun. Particularly when it happens frequently. You lie awake tossing and turning, checking the time over and over, and worrying about how exhausted you will be tomorrow. When these types of sleepless nights routinely occur, medical professionals tend to use the label “insomnia”. With insomnia, the negatives of not sleeping will then begin to add up and can, after a while, have a negative impact on your general health.
And, maybe not surprisingly, “your overall health” includes the health of your hearing. Yup, your hearing can be negatively impacted by insomnia! 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 considerable amount of research that suggests insomnia, over a long enough period, can impact your cardiovascular system. It becomes harder for your blood to circulate into all of the extremities of your body when you don’t get the restorative power of a good night’s sleep.
Anxiety and stress also increase with insomnia. Being stressed and anxious aren’t only states of mind, they’re physiological states, as well.
So, how does hearing loss play into that? Your ears work because they’re filled with delicate little hairs known as stereocilia. These delicate hairs vibrate when sound occurs and the information gets sent to your brain, which then translates those vibrations into sounds.
When your circulatory system is not working correctly, these hairs have a hard time thriving. These hairs can, in some instances, be permanently damaged. Damage of this kind is permanent. Permanent hearing loss can be the result, and the longer the circulation problems 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 sleeping? It’s absolutely possible. Many individuals favor a little background noise when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make the world very quiet. This means that the quiet of hearing loss can in some cases prevent normal sleeping. Any amount of hearing loss stress (for example, 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 during the day can help minimize stress on your brain at night (when you’re not wearing them). Adhering to other sleep-health tips can also help.
Some tips for a good night’s sleep
- Exercise regularly: Your body needs to move, and if you aren’t moving, you could end up going to bed with some excess energy. Being active every day can be helpful.
- Refrain from drinking alcohol before you go to bed: Your natural sleep cycle will be interrupted by drinking alcohol before bed.
- Try not to use your bedroom for other activities besides sleeping: Try to minimize the amount of things you use your bedroom for. Working in your bedroom isn’t a very good idea.
- Try to de-stress as much as you can: It may not be possible to remove every stressor from your life, but giving yourself time to unwind is essential. Do something relaxing before bed.
- Steer clear of screens for at least an hour before going to bed: (Actually, the longer the better.) Screens tend to activate your brain
- Avoid drinking 2 hours before you go to bed: Having to get up and go to the bathroom can begin the “wake up” process in your brain. It’s better to sleep right through the night.
- Don’t drink caffeine after midday.: Even if you drink decaf, it still has enough caffeine to give you trouble sleeping. This includes soda too.
Be aware of the health of your hearing
Even if you’ve experienced some insomnia-associated symptoms in the past, and have some hearing loss, your symptoms can still be managed.
If you’re concerned about your hearing, set up an appointment with us today.
