Not getting enough sleep can have a harmful impact on your health and vitality. There’s a disagreeable feeling to waking up groggy because you slept less than seven to eight hours that even several cups of coffee can’t help. So when your loss of hearing began causing insomnia, you were aghast.
And that’s understandable. But there’s a little something that can be of assistance, luckily: a hearing aid. Based upon the most recent surveys and research, these little devices can probably help you sleep sounder.
How Does Loss of Hearing Impact 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 individuals who have hearing loss often have a hard time falling asleep, but exactly why is not well recognized. Some theories have been put forward:
- Hearing loss is connected to depression, and your sleep cycle can be disturbed by chemical imbalances as a result of depression. This makes it more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.
- As you develop loss of hearing, your brain starts straining, it’s searching 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 thrown off (it’s that “my brain won’t shut off” issue).
- Tinnitus can cause you to hear thumping, humming, and ringing and that noise can cause you to lose sleep. (It can become a vicious cycle because loss of sleep can worsen your tinnitus symptoms).
Can Hearing Aids Help Your Sleep?
According to one study, 44% of individuals with loss of hearing who don’t use hearing aids documented being satisfied with their sleep compared to 59% sleep satisfaction among those who did use a hearing aid. So are hearing aids a sleep aid or what?
Not really. If you don’t have hearing loss, a hearing aid can’t cure insomnia.
But if you suffer from hearing loss related insomnia, hearing aids may help in numerous crucial ways:
- Isolation: If you’re out on the town, hooking up with the people in your social group, you’re not so likely to feel depressed and isolated. Hearing aids make building relationships easier (this can also reduce “cabin fever”-associated sleep cycle problems).
- Tinnitus: Hearing aids may be a practical treatment for that ringing or buzzing, depending on the nature of your tinnitus. This can help you get to sleep by short circuiting that vicious cycle.
- Strain: The strain on your brain will essentially lessened by wearing hearing aids. And when your brain isn’t always struggling to hear everything around you, it won’t be as likely to continue that practice while you’re attempting to sleep.
Getting Better Quality Sleep Using Hearing Aids
In terms of sleep, the amount of hours isn’t the only consideration. In order for your sleep to be really rejuvenating, it’s important that you achieve a certain depth to your z’s. Hearing aids can increase your ability to achieve a restful nights sleep because loss of hearing without hearing aids can reduce deep sleep.
Using your hearing aids on the suggested daytime schedule will improve your sleep but it’s worthwhile to mention that hearing aids are not typically designed to be worn at night. They aren’t going to help you hear better when you’re sleeping (you won’t be capable of hearing your alarm clock more clearly, for instance). And, over time, wearing your hearing aids at night can diminish their efficiency. You get better sleep if you wear them during the day.
Go to Bed!
Getting a good night’s sleep is a precious thing. Your immune system, your stress levels, and your ability to think clearly will all be benefited by ample sleep. A decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes have also been connected to balanced sleep habits.
When your sleep schedule is disrupted by your hearing loss, the problem becomes more than irritating, insomnia can frequently become a real health issue. Fortunately, people report having better quality sleep when they use hearing aids.