Hearing Loss and Sleep

Do you sleep better if you have hearing loss – or does it make sleeping more difficult? Does lack of sleep affect your hearing the answers are complicated. There have been studies involving sleep and hearing loss as well as sleep and tinnitus. How one affects the other is the subject research right now. At Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services, the only thing we can tell you for sure is getting regular hearing evaluations and getting your hearing loss treated if that’s an issue, will improve your life and that includes your sleeping patterns.

How Is Your Sleep Affected by Hearing Loss?

As we said, sleep is a complicated issue. Sleeping well and getting enough sleep is an important part of overall health. Your sleep can be impacted by a lot of factors from your health to stress. Studies do show insomnia is common among individuals who are hard of hearing or are deaf. In one study, 2/3 of the respondents who were deaf said they had insomnia and the prevalence of insomnia is higher if people are suffering from occupational hearing loss, tinnitus or sudden hearing loss.

Stress due to deafness or hearing loss could be one of the reasons for the high numbers, researchers said. Poor sleep patterns and depression are linked and one can cause the other. People who are congenitally deaf and those that have hearing loss later in life have higher rates of mood disorders including depression.

People with hearing disorders may have ongoing poor-quality sleep which is comparable to sleep deprivation and the effects can be the same as insomnia. One study involving the sleep patterns of deaf people found the subjects being studied woke up more often during the night. This disturbed the amount of time they spent in deep sleep which is the sleep needed to reboot the body. This led to feelings of exhaustion as well as the subjects thinking they had not gotten any sleep. The deeper sleep stage also is the sleep stage that plays a part in memory formation and retention as well as mood regulation.

Can Hearing Loss Help You Sleep?

Results from one study help to show how complicated the whole sleep/hearing loss/insomnia issue is. The study found middle-aged and elderly with hearing loss slept better and woke up more refreshed than younger individuals with hearing loss. There is anecdotal evidence that those who had hearing loss later in life slept better because they were less distracted by ambient noise. One of the issues that perplexes researchers is that other factors that can lead to poor sleep patterns including aging itself, some medical issues and lifestyle changes.

Does Tinnitus Affect Sleep?

Tinnitus is when you “hear” noise in your head but there’s no external source. People have described it as roaring, whining, buzzing and hissing. About 50 million Americans have or had this condition, but only about 12 million talk to a doctor. Armed services veterans, with their exposure to loud noises, frequently have this condition. In fact, it is the number one disability.
Sleep problems among tinnitus sufferers is about 77% and, again, poor sleeping may be caused by tinnitus or may be the cause of tinnitus.

White noise or the introduction of any background noise, can prove to be immensely beneficial to tinnitus sufferers. The newer model hearing aids have a white noise function that can treat hearing loss and tinnitus at the same time. Give us a call at Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services and we can talk to you about hearing loss and tinnitus.

Hearing Aids and Sleep

About a third of adults with hearing loss use a hearing aid. Nearly $800 million a year is spent on developing better hearing aids and the advances in technology are amazing. In addition to helping you hear better; they also can reduce hearing-loss sleep issues. A study using volunteers with tinnitus and hearing loss found their sleep patterns were significantly better when they started using hearing aids. While most hearing aids are meant to be removed during sleep, the exception is the in-ear canal model, some people think they should leave them in so they can better hear their alarm or their children. Some hearing aids can have feedback if worn during the night and this is likely to be disruptive to sleep.

Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services

Our professional staff can talk to you about hearing loss, tinnitus and hearing aid models. At Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services, we’re ready to help you on the path to better hearing. It starts with a hearing evaluation. Contact us today to learn more!