It’s no fun when you can’t sleep at night. And when it occurs frequnetly, it’s especially vexing. You toss and turn and maybe stare at the clock (or your phone) and stress about just how tired you’ll be the next day. When these types of sleepless nights routinely happen, medical professionals tend to use the term “insomnia”. Over time, the effects of chronic insomnia will compound, negatively impacting your overall health.
And the health of your hearing, not unexpectedly, 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 link there.
Can lack of sleep affect your hearing?
How could loss of sleep possibly impact your hearing? According to significant research, your cardiovascular system can be impacted by insomnia over a long period of time. It becomes harder for your blood to circulate into all of the extremities of your body when you aren’t getting the recuperative power of a good night’s sleep.
Insomnia also means an increase in stress and anxiety. Feeling anxious and stressed will impact 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. These fragile hairs vibrate when sound happens and the information gets transmitted to your brain, which then translates those vibrations into sounds.
These little hairs have a hard 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. Permanent hearing loss can be the outcome, and the longer the circulation problems persist, the worse the damage will be.
Does it also work the other way around?
Is it possible for hearing loss to cause you to lose sleep? Yes, it can! Hearing loss can make the world really quiet, and some individuals like a little bit of noise when they try to sleep. This means that the quiet of hearing loss can in some cases prevent normal sleeping. Another way that hearing loss could cost you some sleep is if you find yourself anxious about losing your hearing.
So how do you get a quality night’s sleep when you have hearing loss? Stress on your brain can be reduced by wearing your hearing aids every day because you won’t be wearing them at night. It can also help if you follow some other sleep-health tips.
How to get a good night’s sleep
- Try to avoid drinking 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.
- Refrain from drinking alcohol before you go to bed: 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 up at night if you drink at night. This includes soda also.
- Maintain your bedroom for sleeping (mostly): Try to limit the amount of things you utilize your bedroom for. For instance, don’t do work in your bedroom.
- Avoid screens for at least 60 minutes before bed: (Even longer if possible!) Your brain tends to be stimulated by looking at screens.
- Get some exercise regularly: Your body needs to keep moving, and if you aren’t moving, you may end up going to bed with some extra energy. Being active every day can help.
- Try to de-stress as much as you can: Get away from work and do something relaxing before bed.
Care for your hearing health
You can still control your symptoms even if you have hearing loss along with some insomnia.
Schedule an appointment for a hearing test today!