Fatigue and tiredness are two words that appear similar in meaning. They both refer to a state of weariness and exhaustion.

However, the degree of weariness that they describe is in fact very different. While tiredness is generally a temporary problem that can be resolved by getting a good night’s sleep, fatigue tends to be a more long-term problem with underlying medical causes.

These causes vary widely between different age groups, and as a result they may need more solutions than simply getting more sleep.

Most common causes of fatigue and low energy

Children

According to Harvard Medical School, children need at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night. However, this can be cut short for any number of reasons. Although many of these reasons can be resolved by ensuring that your child gets enough sleep, plenty cannot. These exceptions include sleeping disorders like insomnia, chronic illnesses like asthma, infections, and mental health problems.

Young adults

Young adults may suffer from fatigue for many of the same reasons that children do. However, the added pressures of navigating the new world of adulthood can also result in mental exhaustion for many young adults. Unlike children, they are learning how to keep a roof over their heads, how to put food on the table every night, and how to balance the amount of time they are spending with technology.

Middle-aged adults

While middle-aged adults have typically worked past the struggles of young adulthood, they are no less subject to fatigue than young adults are. On the contrary, settling down can put middle-aged adults at risk for new causes of fatigue. These causes may include a poor diet, a lack of exercise, and even hormone deficiencies.

Seniors

The same dietary, physical and hormonal problems that plague middle-aged adults are also found in seniors. In some cases, though, they can occur at higher rates in seniors than in middle-aged adults. The aging process significantly slows down the ability of seniors’ bodies to compensate for these deficiencies. Aging also exposes seniors to more medical complications that can act as additional causes of fatigue.

Safe and effective ways of energy restoration

Sleep

The first and most obvious solution to fatigue is to give your body at least 7 to 9 hours to rest each night. While sleep is not the end all be all solution for every case of fatigue, it is nevertheless a good starting point. If sleep appears to resolve your fatigue, then you can safely rule out any underlying medical causes.

Sport

Exercise is an easy way to increase your blood flow. This in turn boosts the amount of oxygen in the rest of your body. The heightened air flow will leave you feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world.

Diet

Your body relies on a number of nutrients to function properly. Without these nutrients, the parts of your body that need them will slow down or even malfunction. It is therefore important to ensure that your daily diet is well-rounded. Use MyPlate to help you meal plan throughout the week. MyPlate is the successor of the food pyramid, which are a set of dietary guidelines provided by the U.S. government. If you have a smartphone, my plate also has an app for iOS and Android systems.

HRT

Like your diet, your hormones also keep your body in working order. However, unlike your diet, your hormones are much more difficult to control. Hormonal imbalances can occur even without you lifting a single finger.

These imbalances can often be fixed with hormonal replacement therapy. Consult your primary care physician or specialists from Medzone HRT clinic if you believe that you may be suffering from hormonal deficiencies. They can connect you with a highly qualified endocrinologist, who will have you take a blood test. Depending on the results of your blood test, the endocrinologist may suggest a human growth hormone (HGH) prescription for you. A growth hormone helps regulate your metabolism, your body structure, your body fluids, and more.

Psychology

Your mental health also plays an important role in your ability to stay alert. Maintaining alertness is that much harder when you have no motivation to be awake in the first place. Use a journal to keep track of your mental health and consult a mental health professional to address any patterns that you observe.

Conclusion

Fatigue is a problem that affects all age groups. It differs from tiredness in that it can have many more causes and many more solutions then merely getting a good night’s sleep. It is therefore best that you try more than one of the five solutions listed here get to the bottom of your fatigue and rid yourself of it once and for all.