The Connection between Stress, Listening Fatigue and Hearing Loss

 

Insights from the Audiologists at your Trusted Audiology Clinic in Ottawa

Have you been feeling extremely exhausted after listening to people speak for a long time? This could be happening because:

1. You may be experiencing hearing loss, which is making your brain work really hard to process sounds, and tiring you out faster, OR
2. You are stressed, anxious or depressed about aspects related to work, household chores, parenting, or other issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and these in turn are triggering overall fatigue that impacts your hearing.

It is a well-understood fact that constant stress can impact physical and mental health. The experienced Audiologists at Echo Audiology discuss the connection between stress, listening fatigue, and hearing loss.

Is the Hearing Loss Real?

There are three areas of our brain that connect with the auditory system to interpret sound and speech. While Broca’s Area is responsible for speech production, Wernicke’s Area addresses speech comprehension, and the temporal lobe manages hearing. For people with normal hearing, the brain effortlessly receives all three neural signals that enables the individual to understand speech and hear sounds. However, if you are suffering from any permanent or temporary damage to the inner ear hair cells, it causes the brain to work harder to process the signals, resulting in increased hearing loss and listening fatigue.

That does not mean that every individual who experiences listening fatigue has actual hearing loss. In fact, most of the time, the fatigue may be simply due to an overload of life’s activities and overall stressors. For example, the work-from-home arrangements related to the pandemic have led to a huge increase in the number of hours you attend to work calls or virtual meetings. This alone can exhaust your brain, sometimes because of the nature of the calls or perhaps due to the quality of sound of your devices.

A professional hearing test, followed by proper counselling on the use of suitable hearing aid solutions in Ottawa like using better communication strategies or for some even using hearing aids, could help you address the stress, reduce listening fatigue, and improve your overall health and well-being.

Visit Your Local Ottawa Audiology Clinic for Stress-Free Hearing Solutions

At Echo Audiology, we offer comprehensive hearing health services, including hearing assessments, related counselling and education, and modern audiology tools and hearing aids, serving communities in Ottawa and surrounding areas. Our team of highly qualified Audiologists address hearing health issues in a compassionate and professional manner and advise you on hearing solutions in keeping with your listening needs, lifestyle, budget, and personal preferences.

Originally Posted on: https://www.echoaudiology.com/the-connection-between-stress-listening-fatigue-and-hearing-loss/