It’s not fun when you’re unable to sleep at night. And when it happens frequnetly, it’s especially 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 routinely occur, medical professionals tend to use the label “insomnia”. Over time, the effects of chronic insomnia will add up, negatively impacting your general health.
And the health of your hearing, not surprisingly, is part of your general health. Yup, your hearing can be negatively affected by insomnia! This isn’t exactly a cause-and-effect relationship, but that doesn’t mean there’s no link between hearing loss and insomnia.
Can lack of sleep impact your hearing?
How could loss of sleep possibly impact your hearing? According to significant research, your cardiovascular system can be influenced by insomnia over a long time period. Without the nightly renewing power of sleep, it’s more difficult for your blood to get everywhere it needs to be.
Insomnia also means an increase in anxiety and stress. Feeling stressed and anxious will impact you in physiological ways as well as mentally.
So, how does hearing loss play into that? There are tiny hairs inside of your ears called stereocilia. When waves of sound vibrate these little hairs, signals are transmitted to your brain which translates these signals into sound.
These little hairs have a difficult time remaining healthy when there are circulatory issues. These hairs can, in some cases, be permanently damaged. And once that happens, your hearing will be irrevocably damaged. This can lead to permanent hearing loss, especially the longer it continues.
Does it also work the other way around?
If insomnia can impact your hearing health, can hearing loss stop you from sleeping? It’s definitely possible. Many people favor a little background noise when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make your environment really quiet. This means that the quiet of hearing loss can sometimes prevent normal sleeping. Any amount of hearing loss stress (for instance, if you’re worried about losing your hearing) can have a similar effect.
So how do 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 at night. It can also be helpful if you follow some other sleep-health tips.
Some guidelines for a good night’s sleep
- Try not to use your bedroom for other activities besides sleeping: Your bedroom is for sleeping in, so try to keep it that way. For example, don’t do work in your bedroom.
- Get some exercise regularly: You might go to bed with some excess energy if you don’t get enough exercise. Being active every day can be helpful.
- Avoid drinking alcohol before you go to bed: This will simply interrupt your existing sleep cycle.
- Quit drinking caffeine after noon: Even if you drink decaf, it still has enough caffeine to give you difficulty sleeping. This includes soda as well.
- Steer clear of screens for at least an hour before going to bed: (Even longer if possible!) Your brain has a tendency to be stimulated by looking at screens.
- Try to de-stress as much as possible: Get away from work and do something relaxing before bed.
- For at least 2 hours before bed, try to abstain from liquids: Having to get up and go to the bathroom can initiate the “wake up” process in your brain. So, sleeping through the night is better.
Pay attention to the health of your hearing
Even if you have experienced some insomnia-related symptoms before, and have some hearing loss, your symptoms can still be managed.
If you’re worried about your hearing, schedule an appointment with us today.