Not getting enough sleep can have a harmful impact on your health and vitality. There’s an unpleasant feeling to waking up groggy because you slept less than seven to eight hours that even several cups of coffee can’t help. So you were aghast when your loss of hearing started to make you lose sleep.
Justifiably so. But there’s a little something that can help, fortunately: a hearing aid. Based upon the most recent surveys and research, these small devices can likely help you sleep sounder.
How Does Loss of Hearing Affect Sleep?
Despite the fact that you feel tired all day and are exhausted by bedtime, you still toss and turn and have a difficult time falling asleep. All of these problems started about the same time you also began to notice that your radio, television, and mobile phone were becoming hard to hear.
Turns out, you’re not imagining things. It’s well documented that people who have loss of hearing frequently have a difficult time falling asleep, but precisely why is not really recognized. There are, naturally, a couple of theories:
- Loss of hearing is connected to depression, and depression can result in chemical imbalances in the brain that interrupt your sleep cycle. This makes it more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.
- Tinnitus can make you hear thumping, humming, and ringing and that noise can cause you to lose sleep. (Lack of sleep can also make your tinnitus worse, which then can cause stronger insomnia, it’s a vicious cycle).
- As you develop loss of hearing, your brain begins straining, it’s searching for stimulus from your ears where there isn’t. Your entire cycle could be thrown off if your brain is working overtime attempting to hear (it’s that “my brain won’t shut off” problem).
Can Hearing Aids Help Your Sleep?
According to one study, 59% of individuals who were hearing aid users noted feeling fulfilled with their sleep, in comparison to a 44% satisfaction rate in people who don’t use hearing aids. So are hearing aids a sleep aid or what?
well, not really. If you don’t have loss of hearing, a hearing aid can’t cure insomnia.
But if you suffer from hearing loss related insomnia, hearing aids might help in several crucial ways:
- Tinnitus: Depending on the cause and nature of your tinnitus, hearing aids could provide an effective means of managing that ringing and buzzing. This can help stop that vicious cycle and help you get some sleep.
- Strain: Your hearing aids will effectively reduce the burden on your brain. And when your brain isn’t always straining to hear everything around you, it won’t be as likely to continue that practice while you’re trying to sleep.
- Isolation: If you’re out on the town, connecting with the people in your social group, you’re less likely to feel isolated and depressed. Relationships get less difficult with hearing aids (this can also decrease “cabin fever”-related sleep cycle troubles).
Achieving a Better Quality Sleep Using Hearing Aids
It’s not just how many hours you sleep that’s significant here. How deep you sleep is as important as how many hours you sleep. Hearing aids can increase your ability to get a restful nights sleep because hearing loss without hearing aids can prevent deep sleep.
It’s relevant to note that while they’ll help benefit your sleep, most hearing aids are not designated to be worn at night. They aren’t going to help you hear better when you’re in bed (for instance, you won’t hear your alarm clock more clearly). And, as time passes, wearing your hearing aids at night can reduce their efficiency. You get better sleep if you use them during the day.
Go to Bed!
Sleep is precious. Your immune system, your stress levels, and your ability to think clearly will all be benefited by sufficient sleep. A reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes have also been connected to balanced sleep habits.
When your loss of hearing begins to disrupt your sleep schedule, the problem becomes more than aggravating, insomnia can often lead to serious health concerns. Luckily, most surveys document that people with hearing aids have improved quality of sleep.
