Sleepless nights are no fun. And when it occurs on a regular basis, it’s particularly vexing. You toss and turn and probably stare at the clock (or your phone) and worry about just how exhausted you’ll be the next day. When these kinds of sleepless nights persistently happen, medical professionals tend to use the term “insomnia”. With insomnia, the downsides of not sleeping will then begin to add up and can, over time, have a negative affect on your overall health.
And, perhaps not surprisingly, “your overall health” includes your hearing health. Yup, your hearing can be negatively affected 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?
What could the connection between hearing loss and sleep be? There’s a considerable amount of research that indicates insomnia, over a long enough period, can affect your cardiovascular system. Without the nightly restorative power of sleep, it’s harder for your blood to get everywhere it needs to be.
Anxiety and stress also increase with insomnia. Being stressed and anxious are not only states of mind, they’re physiological states, also.
So how is that connected to hearing loss? Your ears work because they’re filled with fragile little hairs called stereocilia. When sound waves vibrate these little hairs, signals are sent to your brain which translates these signals into sound.
When your circulatory system isn’t working correctly, these hairs have a difficult time thriving. These hairs can, in some instances, be permanently damaged. Damage of this type is permanent. This can cause permanent hearing loss, especially the longer it continues.
Is the reverse true?
Is it possible for hearing loss to make you lose sleep? Yes, it can! Many people prefer a little background noise 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. Any kind of hearing loss anxiety (for example, if you’re worried about losing your hearing) can have a similar impact.
If you have hearing loss, what can you do to get a quality night’s sleep? Wearing your hearing aids every 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 good night’s sleep
- Exercise regularly: You may go to bed with some extra energy if you don’t get enough exercise. Getting enough exercise daily can be really helpful.
- Avoid using alcohol before you go to bed: This will simply disrupt your natural sleep cycle.
- Don’t drink caffeine after midday.: Even decaf coffee has enough caffeine in it to keep you up at night if you drink at night. Soda also falls into this category.
- Try not to use your bedroom for other activities other than sleeping: Try to limit the amount of things you use your bedroom for. For instance, don’t do work in your bedroom.
- Try to de-stress as much as possible: It might not be possible to remove every stressor from your life, but giving yourself time to de-stress is critical. Do something relaxing before you go to bed.
- Avoid screens for at least 1 hour before bed: (Even longer if possible!) Your brain has a tendency to be activated by looking at screens.
- For at least 2 hours before bed, try to abstain from liquids: Each time you need to get up and go to the bathroom, you begin the wake up process. So, sleeping through the night is better.
Be aware of the health of your hearing
You can still control your symptoms even if you have hearing loss along with some insomnia.
If you’re worried about your hearing, make an appointment with us today.