Sleepless nights are no fun. And when it occurs on a regular basis, 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 occur, medical professionals tend to use the label “insomnia”. With insomnia, the drawbacks of not sleeping will then start to compound and can, over time, have a negative affect on your general health.
And the health of your hearing, not unexpectedly, is part of your general health. Yup, your hearing can be negatively impacted 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 lack of sleep affect your hearing?
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. Feeling stressed and anxious 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 delicate little hairs known as stereocilia. These fragile hairs vibrate when sound takes place and the information gets transmitted to your brain, which then converts those vibrations into sounds.
These little hairs have a difficult time remaining healthy when there are circulatory issues. In some cases, poor circulation can damage these hairs, permanently. Damage of this kind is permanent. Permanent hearing loss can be the result, and the longer the circulation problems continue, the worse the damage will be.
Does it also work the other way around?
If insomnia can affect your hearing health, can hearing loss stop you from getting a good night’s 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 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.
If you have hearing loss, what can you do to get a good night’s sleep? Stress on your brain can be reduced 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 be helpful.
Some guidelines for a good night’s sleep
- Avoid drinking alcohol before you go to bed: Your existing sleep cycle will be disturbed by drinking alcohol before bed.
- Keep your bedroom for sleeping (mostly): Try to minimize the amount of things you use your bedroom for. Working in your bedroom isn’t a very good idea.
- Don’t drink caffeine after lunch.: Even decaf coffee has enough caffeine in it to keep you up at night if you drink it late enough. Soda also fits into this category.
- 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.
- Try to avoid drinking a couple of hours before bed: Each time you need to get up and go to the bathroom, you begin the wake up process. It’s much better to sleep right through the night.
- Try to de-stress as much as you can: It may not be possible to get rid of every stressor from your life, but giving yourself time to unwind is essential. Do something relaxing before you go to bed.
- Avoid screens for at least 1 hour before going to bed: (Even longer if you can!) Screens tend to activate your brain
Care for your hearing health
You can still manage your symptoms even if you have hearing loss along with some insomnia.
If you’re worried about your hearing, set up an appointment with us today.