Sleepless nights are no fun. Especially when it happens regularly. 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 kinds of sleepless nights persistently occur, medical professionals tend to use the label “insomnia”. With insomnia, the downsides of not sleeping will then start to compound and can, after a while, have a negative impact on your overall health.
And the health of your hearing, not unexpectedly, is part of your general health. Yup, your hearing can be negatively affected by insomnia! Though the relationship between hearing loss and insomnia might not be a cause-and-effect situation, there’s still a connection there.
Can your hearing be impacted by lack of sleep?
How could loss of sleep possibly impact your hearing? There’s a significant amount of research that suggests insomnia, over time, can impact your cardiovascular system. Without the nightly regenerative power of sleep, it’s more difficult for your blood to get everywhere it needs to be.
Insomnia also means an increase in stress and anxiety. Being stressed and anxious are not only states of mind, they’re physiological states, as well.
So, how does hearing loss play into that? There are little hairs inside of your ears called stereocilia. When sound waves vibrate these little hairs, signals are sent to your brain which translates these signals into sound.
These little hairs have a hard time remaining healthy when there are circulatory problems. In some cases, poor circulation can damage these hairs, permanently. Damage of this kind is permanent. This can cause permanent hearing loss, especially the longer it continues.
Is the opposite true?
If insomnia can affect your hearing health, can hearing loss stop you from getting a good night’s sleep? It’s definitely possible. Many individuals prefer a little background sound 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. Another way that hearing loss might cost you some sleep is if you find yourself anxious about losing your hearing.
So how can 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. Following other sleep-health tips can also be helpful.
How to get a good night’s sleep
- Stop drinking 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.
- Get some exercise regularly: You might go to bed with some excess energy if you don’t get enough exercise. Getting enough exercise every day can really be helpful.
- Try to de-stress as much as you can: It might not be possible to get rid of every stressor from your life, but giving yourself time to de-stress is essential. Do something relaxing before bed.
- Try to avoid drinking a couple of hours before bed: Each time you need to get up and go to the bathroom, you start the wake up process. So, sleeping through the night is better.
- 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 example, don’t work in your bedroom.
- For at least 1 hour, abstain from looking at screens: (Really, the longer the better.) Screens have a tendency to stimulate your brain
- Before you go to bed, avoid drinking alcohol: Your existing sleep cycle will be interrupted by drinking alcohol before bed.
Be aware of the health of your hearing
Even if you’ve experienced some insomnia-related symptoms in the past, and have some hearing loss, your symptoms can still be managed.
If you’re concerned about your hearing, schedule an appointment with us today.