Sleep is precious. If you don’t get a complete, restful seven to eight hours of sleep, you get up cranky and groggy, an undesirable feeling that takes several cups of coffee to stave off. So when your loss of hearing began causing you to have insomnia, you were aghast.
Justifiably so. But there’s a little something that can help, fortunately: a hearing aid. According to the newest surveys and research, these tiny devices can likely help you sleep better.
How is Sleep Impacted by Loss of Hearing?
Even though you feel fatigued all day and are exhausted by bedtime, you still toss and turn and have a difficult time falling asleep. All of these problems began about the same time you also began to notice that your radio, television, and mobile phone were becoming difficult to hear.
It’s not your imagination as it turns out. There is a well-documented connection between hearing loss and insomnia, even if the precise sources aren’t exactly clear. Some theories have been put forward:
- Tinnitus can cause you to hear thumping, humming, and ringing and that noise can keep you awake at night. (It can become a vicious cycle because loss of sleep can make your tinnitus symptoms worse).
- Loss of hearing is linked to depression, and your sleep cycle can be interrupted by chemical imbalances as a result of depression. This makes it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.
- As you develop hearing loss, your brain begins straining, it’s looking for inputs from your ears where none exists. If your brain is in overdrive trying to hear while you’re trying to sleep, your entire cycle could be disrupted (it’s that “my brain won’t shut off” issue).
Can Your Sleep be Helped by Using Hearing Aids?
According to one study, 44% of people with hearing loss who don’t use hearing aids reported being satisfied with their sleep in comparison to 59% sleep satisfaction among those who did wear a hearing aid. So are hearing aids a sleep aid or what?
Not really. If your hearing is perfectly healthy, using hearing aids isn’t going to cure your insomnia.
But if you suffer from hearing loss related insomnia, hearing aids could help in numerous crucial ways:
- Isolation: Your less likely to feel depressed and isolated if you can connect with people in your social circle when you’re out and about. Hearing aids make building relationships less difficult (this can also diminish “cabin fever”-related sleep cycle troubles).
- Tinnitus: Dependent on the nature and cause of your tinnitus, hearing aids might provide a practical means of managing that buzzing and ringing. This can help stop that vicious cycle and help you get some sleep.
- Strain: The strain on your brain will effectively diminished by wearing hearing aids. And when your brain isn’t constantly straining to hear everything around you, it’ll be less likely to continue that practice while you’re attempting to sleep.
Wearing Hearing Aids to Get a Better Quality Sleep
It’s not just how many hours you sleep that’s relevant here. How deep you sleep is as essential as how many hours you sleep. Hearing loss can reduce that deep sleep, and hearing aids, as a result, can enhance your ability to achieve restful sleep.
Wearing your hearing aids on the recommended daytime schedule will benefit your sleep but it’s significant to mention that hearing aids are not typically intended to be worn while you sleep. When you’re sleeping they aren’t going to help your hearing (you won’t be able to hear your alarm clock better, for example). And, after a while, using your hearing aids at night can diminish their effectiveness. You get better sleep if you wear them during the day.
Go to Bed!
Getting a restful night’s sleep is a precious thing. Adequate sleep can keep your immune system in fighting shape, lessen stress levels, and help you think more clearly. A reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes have also been linked to balanced sleep habits.
When your sleep schedule is disrupted by your hearing loss, it’s not just a small irritation, insomnia can often lead to serious health problems. Fortunately, most surveys report that people who use hearing aids have better quality of sleep.