It’s not fun when you can’t sleep at night. And when it occurs frequnetly, it’s particularly vexing. You lie awake tossing and turning, checking the time over and over, and worrying about how tired you will be tomorrow. When these kinds of sleepless nights routinely happen, medical professionals tend to use the label “insomnia”. Over time, the effects of chronic insomnia will compound, negatively impacting your overall health.
And the health of your hearing, not surprisingly, is part of your general 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 situation, there’s still a connection there.
Can lack of sleep affect your hearing?
What could the connection between hearing loss and sleep be? According to considerable 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 affect you in physiological ways as well as mentally.
So, how does hearing loss play into that? Your ears work because they’re filled with fragile little hairs called stereocilia. When sound waves vibrate these tiny hairs, signals are sent 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 irreversibly damaged. And once that happens, your hearing will be permanently damaged. Permanent hearing loss can be the consequences, and the longer the circulation issues persist, the worse the damage will be.
Does it also work the other way around?
If insomnia can impact your hearing health, can hearing loss stop you from sleeping? It’s certainly 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. 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 quality night’s sleep when you have hearing loss? Wearing your hearing aids during the day can help lessen stress on your brain at night (when you aren’t wearing them). It can also be helpful if you implement some other sleep-health tips.
How to get a quality night’s sleep
- Find ways to alleviate stress: Get away from work and do something soothing before bed.
- Get some exercise regularly: Your body needs to move, and if you aren’t moving, you may end up going to bed with some excess energy. Being active every day can be helpful.
- Stop drinking caffeine after midday: Even decaf coffee has enough caffeine in it to keep you awake at night if you drink at night. Soda also fits into this category.
- Avoid screens for at least 60 minutes before going to bed: (Even longer if you can!) Screens tend to stimulate your brain
- For at least a couple of hours before you go to bed, try to avoid liquids: Needing to get up and go to the bathroom can start the “wake up” process in your brain. So, sleeping through the night is much better.
- Refrain from using alcohol before you go to bed: Your existing sleep cycle will be interrupted by drinking alcohol before bed.
- Maintain your bedroom for sleeping (mostly): Your bedroom is for sleeping in, so try to keep it that way. Working in your bedroom is not a great idea.
Be aware of the health of your hearing
You can still manage your symptoms even if you have hearing loss along with some insomnia.
If you’re concerned about your hearing, schedule an appointment with us today.