The Consequences of Untreated Hearing Loss
The thing about hearing loss is that it’s easy to just ignore. You can deny it for years, compensating for poor hearing by turning up the volume on your phone or TV and pressuring people to repeat themselves.
But in addition to the strain this places on relationships, there are additional, hidden effects of untreated hearing loss that are not as apparent but more concerning.
Here are six potential consequences of untreated hearing loss.
1. Missing out
Hearing loss can cause you to miss out on crucial conversations and familiar sounds like birds chirping or the sound of rain on the rooftop. Ordinary household sounds continue to fade as your private world of sound narrows.
2. Anxiety and depression
A study by the National Council on the Aging found that individuals with untreated hearing loss age 50 and older were more likely to report depression, anxiety, and paranoia and were less social in comparison to those who used hearing aids.
Hearing loss can contribute to impaired relationships, anxiety, social isolation, and ultimately depression. Hearing loss can be upsetting and embarrassing and can have significant psychological effects.
3. Cognitive decline
Hearing loss can affect your thinking and memory. Johns Hopkins Medicine found that those with hearing loss experienced rates of cognitive decline 30-40 percent faster than individuals with normal hearing.
The rate of decline is based on the intensity of hearing loss, but on average, those with hearing loss showed considerable impairment in cognitive ability 3.2 years sooner than those with normal hearing.
4. Listening fatigue
Listening requires energy and effort, and when you fight to hear specific words or have to continually fill in the blanks, the extra effort is tiring. Individuals with hearing loss report higher levels of fatigue at the end of the day, particularly immediately after long meetings or group activities.
5. Diminished work performance
The Better Hearing Institute discovered that, according to a survey of more than 40,000 households, hearing loss adversely influenced yearly household income by an average of as much as $12,000. The monetary impact was directly connected to the measure of hearing loss.
The results make good sense. Hearing loss can cause communication problems and mistakes while at work, limiting productiveness, promotions, and in some instances taking people out of the job market.
6. Safety considerations
Those with hearing loss can fail to hear alarms, sirens, or other alerts to potentially hazardous conditions. They’re also more likely to have a history of falling.
According to a study from Johns Hopkins University, hearing loss has been linked to an increased risk of falling. Those with mild hearing loss were nearly three times more likely to have a history of falling and the chance of falling increased as hearing loss became worse.
The truth is hearing loss is not just a mild annoyance—it has a number of physical, mental, and social side effects that can dramatically decrease an individual’s overall quality of life. But the good news is that it’s almost all avoidable.
All of the consequences we just reviewed are the result of diminished sound stimulation to the brain. Modern day hearing aids, while not able to restore hearing entirely to normal, nonetheless can offer the amplification necessary to prevent most or all of these consequences.
That’s why the majority of patients are pleased with their hearing aid’s performance. It permits them to easily understand speech, hear without continuously struggling, and appreciate the sounds they’ve been missing for years.
Don’t risk the consequences—try out the new technology and find out for yourself how your life can improve.