Does Insomnia Affect Hearing Loss?

It’s no fun when you can’t sleep at night. Particularly when it occurs regularly. You lie awake tossing and turning, looking at the time again and again, and worrying about how tired you will be tomorrow. When these types of sleepless nights persistently occur, medical professionals tend to use the term “insomnia”. Over time, the effects of chronic insomnia will compound, negatively impacting your general health.

And, perhaps not surprisingly, “your general health” includes your hearing health. Yup, your hearing can be negatively affected by insomnia! This isn’t generally a cause-and-effect relationship, but that doesn’t mean there’s no connection between hearing loss and insomnia.

Can your hearing be affected by lack of sleep?

What could the link between hearing loss and sleep be? There’s a substantial amount of research that suggests insomnia, over time, can affect your cardiovascular system. Without the nightly restorative power of sleep, it’s harder for your blood to get everywhere it needs to be.

Insomnia also means an increase in stress and anxiety. Feeling anxious and stressed will affect 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 called stereocilia. When waves of sound vibrate these little hairs, signals are transmitted to your brain which translates these signals into sound.

When your circulatory system is not working properly, these hairs have a difficult time thriving. In some instances, poor circulation can damage these hairs, permanently. Damage of this kind is permanent. This can result in permanent hearing loss, especially the longer it persists.

Is the reverse true?

If insomnia can affect your hearing health, can hearing loss stop you from getting a good night’s sleep? It’s definitely possible. Many people favor a little background sound when they try to sleep and hearing loss can make the world very quiet. This means that the quiet of hearing loss can sometimes prevent normal sleeping. Another way that hearing loss may 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 quality 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 at night. Following other sleep-health tips can also help.

How to get a good night’s sleep

• For at least 2 hours before bed, try to avoid liquids: Every time you need to get up and go to the bathroom, you start the wake up process. So, sleeping through the night is much better.
• Find ways to relieve stress: Get away from work and do something soothing before bed.
• Get some exercise regularly: Your body needs to move, and if you aren’t moving, you may end up going to bed with a bit of excess energy. Being active every day can help.
• Avoid screens for at least 60 minutes before bed: (Even longer if you can!) Screens tend to activate your brain
• Before you go to bed, refrain from drinking alcohol: Your existing sleep cycle will be disrupted by drinking alcohol before bed.
• Stop drinking caffeine after noon: Even decaf coffee has enough caffeine in it to keep you up at night if you drink at night. This includes soda too.
• Try not to use your bedroom for other activities other than sleeping: Your bedroom is for sleeping in, so try to maintain that habit. Working in your bedroom isn’t a great plan.

Pay attention to the health of your hearing

You can still manage your symptoms even if you have hearing loss along with some insomnia.

Make an appointment for a hearing test today!