Sleepless nights aren’t any fun. Especially when it occurs frequently. You lie awake tossing and turning, looking at the time over and over, and worrying about how exhausted you will be tomorrow. When these kinds of sleepless nights routinely happen, medical professionals tend to use the term “insomnia”. With insomnia, the drawbacks of not sleeping will then begin to add up and can, after a while, have a negative affect on your overall health.
And, perhaps 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 connection between hearing loss and insomnia.
Can your hearing be impacted by lack of sleep?
How could loss of sleep possibly affect your hearing? According to significant research, your cardiovascular system can be impacted by insomnia over a long time period. It becomes more difficult for your blood to circulate into all of the extremities of your body when you don’t get the recuperative power of a good night’s sleep.
Anxiety and stress also increase when you have insomnia. Being stressed and anxious aren’t only mental states, they’re physiological states, also.
So, how does hearing loss play into that? Your ears work because they’re filled with delicate little hairs called stereocilia. When sound waves vibrate these little hairs, signals are transmitted to your brain which translates these signals into sound.
When your circulatory system isn’t working properly, these hairs have a difficult time thriving. In some situations, poor circulation can damage these hairs, permanently. And once that happens, your hearing will be irrevocably damaged. This can cause permanent hearing loss, especially the longer it continues.
Does it also work the other way around?
Is it possible for hearing loss to cause you to lose sleep? Yes, it can! Many individuals favor a little background sound when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make your environment very quiet. This means that the quiet of hearing loss can sometimes prevent normal sleeping. Another way that hearing loss may cost you some sleep is if you find yourself stressed about losing your hearing.
If you have hearing loss, what can you do to get a good night’s sleep? Wearing your hearing aids during the day can help minimize stress on your brain at night (when you aren’t wearing them). Following other sleep-health tips can also be helpful.
How to get a quality night’s sleep
- Don’t drink caffeine after midday.: Even if you drink decaf, it still has enough caffeine to give you problems sleeping. Soda also falls into this category.
- For at least 60 minutes, abstain from looking at screens: (Really, the longer the better.) Screens have a tendency to stimulate your brain
- Try to avoid drinking liquids 2 hours before you go to bed: Needing to get up and go to the bathroom can initiate the “wake up” process in your brain. So, sleeping through the night is much better.
- 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 is not a great idea.
- Try to de-stress as much as possible: Get away from work and do something soothing before bed.
- Before bed, avoid drinking alcohol: This will simply interrupt your existing sleep cycle.
- Exercise regularly: Your body needs to move, and if you aren’t moving, you might end up going to bed with some excess energy. Getting enough exercise daily can really be helpful.
Care for your hearing health
Even if you’ve experienced some insomnia-related symptoms in the past, and have some hearing loss, your symptoms can still be controlled.
If you’re concerned about your hearing, set up an appointment with us today.
