Nearly 1 in 5 Americans suffer from hearing loss, so either you or a loved one will likely face hearing difficulties at some point in your life. While it’s true that hearing loss affects many of us as we age, that’s no reason to live with hearing loss, or avoid seeking treatment. Whatever the cause of your hearing loss, whether due to noise exposure, hereditary factors, or normal aging, there are a lot of great reasons to get your hearing tested.
Facing Social Isolation
The fact that so many of us suffer from hearing loss is a great reason to get a hearing test, especially when you think about the negative effects of living with hearing loss. You may think that hearing loss is only about your ears, but that couldn’t be further from the true. The fact is that living with hearing loss has some serious long-term consequences. At the beginning, you’ll have trouble hearing in restaurants, and communication will be challenging, particularly in places with a lot of background noise.
The negative effects of hearing loss escalate quickly. You’ll start to be more withdrawn in group settings, allowing your family and friends to do all the talking while you sit quietly by, straining to catch words, and pretending to follow the conversations happening around you. Soon, you’ll start to isolate yourself, avoid going out to places where you can’t hear well, and choose to stay home alone rather than face the embarrassment of not understanding conversations or responding inappropriately to questions.
Unable to communicate clearly and often remaining isolated at home puts you at risk of developing severe stress, anxiety, depression, or other serious mental health concerns. You may have a harder time dealing with these issues as you’re unable to communicate what you’re going through to your loved ones.
Affecting Concentration
It can be hard to detect hearing loss, because you might not notice the gradual changes in your hearing. Your brain is very good at making accommodations, so you can go about your daily life without thinking about your hearing. However, this comes at a high price. As you’re straining to hear, you will find you have difficulty concentrating, and can’t seem to focus. Even if you’re hearing most of the sounds, you may not understand the sounds as words. Your brain is working overtime to help you hear, piecing together the meaning of what’s being said from the sounds that you can hear, but sometimes it will be too hard for your brain to keep up. You’ll suffer from listening fatigue, and this will affect your concentration on all tasks, not just hearing. You’ll also notice problems with memory, and have trouble recalling what you did yesterday, or what you had for breakfast.
The Link Between Hearing Loss and Dementia
Living with untreated hearing loss not only affects your concentration, but impacts your cognitive abilities as well. Those who don’t seek treatment for their hearing loss risk rapid cognitive decline, difficulty in performing simple tasks, and finally a much higher risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Don’t Ignore Your Hearing Loss
The average American waits between 5 to 7 years to seek treatment for their hearing loss! Considering all the negative health outcomes of living with untreated hearing loss, this statistic is almost unbelievable. Hearing devices have gotten smaller and smaller in the last few years, and have an astounding array of programs and settings that will help you focus on speech, block background noise, sense what settings are appropriate for the listening environment, enhance brain hearing, and reduce listening fatigue. You get all this packed into a tiny device that’s so discreet no one will even notice you’re wearing a hearing aid.
What’s holding you back? After learning about some of the reasons to get your hearing checked, make a life-changing decision. Don’t take any more chances with your hearing or your health. Living with untreated hearing loss can lead to a host of negative consequences that can be easily avoided with a simple hearing test and an easy hearing aid fitting. Visit us today at My Hearing Centers to get your hearing checked, and get back to hearing all the sounds you’ve been missing.