Sleepless nights are no fun. Particularly when it occurs frequently. You lie awake tossing and turning, looking at the time over and over, and stressing about how exhausted you will be tomorrow. When these types of sleepless nights routinely happen, medical professionals tend to use the label “insomnia”. Over time, the effects of persistent insomnia will add up, negatively impacting your general health.
And, maybe not surprisingly, “your overall health” includes the health of your hearing. Yup, your hearing can be negatively affected by insomnia! This isn’t exactly 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? According to considerable research, your cardiovascular system can be impacted by insomnia over a long time period. 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 aren’t only states of mind, they’re physiological states, too.
So, how does hearing loss play into that? There are tiny hairs inside of your ears known as stereocilia. These delicate hairs vibrate when sound takes place and the information gets transmitted to your brain, which then converts those vibrations into sounds.
When your circulatory system isn’t working properly, these hairs have a difficult time thriving. These hairs can, in some instances, be irreversibly damaged. And once that happens, your hearing will be permanently damaged. Permanent hearing loss can be the outcome, and the longer the circulation issues continue, 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? It’s absolutely possible. Many people prefer a little background noise when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make the world very quiet. For people in this category, that amount of silence can make it really difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Another way that hearing loss might 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 quality night’s sleep? Stress on your brain can be decreased by wearing your hearing aids during the day because you won’t be wearing them while you sleep. Adhering to other sleep-health tips can also help.
How to get a good night’s sleep
- Find ways to relieve stress: It may not be possible to remove every stressor from your life, but giving yourself time to de-stress is crucial. Do something relaxing before you go to bed.
- Avoid screens for at least an hour before going to bed: (Even longer if possible!) Your brain tends to be stimulated by looking at screens.
- Get some exercise regularly: You could go to bed with some excess energy if you don’t get enough exercise. Being active every day can be helpful.
- Keep your bedroom for sleeping (mostly): Your bedroom is for sleeping in, so try to keep it that way. For instance, don’t work in your bedroom.
- Try to avoid drinking a couple of hours before bed: Each time you need to get up and go to the bathroom, you initiate the wake up process. It’s much better to sleep right through the night.
- Avoid drinking alcohol before you go to bed: Your natural sleep cycle will be interrupted by drinking alcohol before bed.
- Don’t drink 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.
Take care of your hearing health
You can still control your symptoms even if you have hearing loss along with some insomnia.
If you’re worried about your hearing, schedule an appointment with us today.