It’s not fun when you can’t sleep at night. And when it happens frequnetly, it’s particularly 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 persistently happen, medical professionals tend to use the term “insomnia”. With insomnia, the downsides of not sleeping will then begin to compound and can, after a while, have a negative affect on your overall health.
And the health of your hearing, not unexpectedly, is part of your general health. That’s correct, insomnia can have an affect on your ability to hear. Though the relationship between hearing loss and insomnia might not be a cause-and-effect scenario, there’s still a link there.
What could the connection between hearing loss and sleep be? According to considerable research, your cardiovascular system can be affected by insomnia over a long time period. It becomes harder for your blood to flow into all of the extremities of your body when you aren’t getting the renewing power of a good night’s sleep.
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 is that connected to hearing loss? Your ears work because they’re filled with fragile little hairs known as stereocilia. When waves of sound 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. In some circumstances, poor circulation can damage these hairs, permanently. And once that takes place, your hearing will be permanently damaged. This can result in permanent hearing loss, especially the longer it continues.
Is it possible for hearing loss to make you lose sleep? Yes, it can! Hearing loss can make the world very quiet, and some individuals like a little bit of noise when they sleep. For people in this group, that amount of quiet can make it very hard to get a good night’s sleep. 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? Stress on your brain can be decreased by wearing your hearing aids every day because you won’t be wearing them while you sleep. Following other sleep-health tips can also be helpful.
Even if you have experienced some insomnia-associated symptoms in the past, and have some hearing loss, your symptoms can still be controlled.
If you’re concerned about your hearing, make an appointment with us today.
1455 W. Court St.
Kankakee, IL 60901
815 939 2024
Mon & Wed: 9am-4:30pm (Staff only)
Tue & Thu: 8:30am-5pm (Doctor sees patients)
Fri: 9am-1pm (Staff only)
Fri: 2pm-5pm (Doctor sees patients)
Closed for lunch 12pm-1pm
29 West 34th St.
Steger, IL 60475
708 756 1767
Mon & Wed: 8:30am-5pm (Doctor sees patients)
Tue & Thu: 9am-4:30pm (Staff only)
Fri: 8:30am-12pm (Doctor sees patients)
Fri: 1pm-4:30pm (Staff only)
Closed for lunch 12pm-1pm