Sleep is valuable. If you don’t get a complete, restful seven to eight hours of sleep, you wake up groggy and cranky, an uncomfortable feeling that only three cups of coffee can keep at bay. 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 be of assistance, fortunately: a hearing aid. According to the latest surveys and research, these tiny devices can probably help you sleep sounder.

How is Sleep Impacted by Loss of Hearing?

Despite the fact that you feel fatigued all day and are exhausted by bedtime, you still toss and turn and have a hard time falling asleep. All of these problems started around the same time you also began to notice that your radio, television, and mobile phone were becoming hard to hear.

It’s not your imagination come to find. It’s well documented that individuals who have loss of hearing often have a hard time falling asleep, but precisely why is not really understood. There are, naturally, a handful of theories:

• As you develop hearing loss, your brain begins straining, it’s searching for inputs from your ears where there isn’t. If your brain is in high gear trying to hear while you’re drifting off to sleep, your whole cycle could be thrown off (It’s the common problem of not being able to get your brain to turn off).
• You can lose sleep because of tinnitus which can cause ringing, thumping, or humming noises in your ears. (Lack of sleep can also cause your tinnitus to get worse, which can then cause stronger insomnia, it’s a vicious cycle).
• Hearing loss is linked to depression, and depression can lead to chemical imbalances in the brain that interrupt your sleep cycle. Because of this, falling asleep and staying asleep becomes harder.

Can Hearing Aids Help Your Sleep?

According to one study, 44% of people with loss of hearing who don’t wear hearing aids reported being satisfied with their sleep compared to 59% sleep satisfaction from those who did wear a hearing aid. So are hearing aids a sleep aid or what?

Not exactly. If your hearing is perfectly healthy, using hearing aids isn’t going to cure your insomnia.

But if you are suffering from loss of hearing, your hearing aids can target numerous concerns that may be worsening your insomnia:

• Isolation: If you’re out on the town, hooking up with the people in your social sphere, you’re not so likely to feel isolated and depressed. Relationships get less difficult with hearing aids (sleep cycle problems that result in “cabin fever” can also be reduced).
• Tinnitus: Hearing aids could be a practical treatment for that buzzing or ringing, depending on the nature of your tinnitus. This can help stop that vicious cycle and help you get to sleep.
• Strain: The strain on your brain will effectively diminished by wearing hearing aids. And when your brain isn’t always straining to hear everything around you, it won’t be as likely to continue that practice when you’re attempting to sleep.

Getting Better Night Sleep Using Hearing Aids

It isn’t just the number of hours that’s relevant here. In order for your sleep to be really rejuvenating, you need to obtain a certain depth to your z’s. Hearing aids can improve your ability to attain a restful nights sleep because loss of hearing without hearing aids can prevent deep sleep.

Using your hearing aids on the suggested daytime schedule will benefit your sleep but it’s important to note that hearing aids aren’t ordinarily intended to be used while you sleep. When you’re sleeping they aren’t going to help your hearing (for example, you won’t hear your alarm clock more clearly). And your hearing aids can definitely wear out faster if you use them at night. It’s wearing them during the day that helps you get better sleep.

Go to Bed!

Getting a restful night’s sleep is a precious thing. Ample sleep can keep your immune system in fighting shape, reduce stress levels, and help you think more clearly. Proper sleep habits have even been connected to reduced risks for heart disease and diabetes.

When your loss of hearing begins to affect your sleep schedule, the issue becomes more than annoying, insomnia can often result in serious health problems. Fortunately, people report having better quality sleep when they use hearing aids.