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Treating hearing loss is an investment in your health that is worth making! Treatment offers countless benefits that allow people to live active lifestyles that they can fully participate in.
Hearing loss is one of the most common health conditions that people live with today. Impacting nearly 1 in 8 people, impaired hearing is pervasive. But it is at the same time, widely undertreated and millions of people end up living with untreated symptoms. This can take a toll on your health, relationships, and even work life. Accessing the effective hearing solutions that are available not only transforms hearing but also overall health and daily wellness in major ways. Prioritizing treatment is an investment that will continue to pay off, contributing to a greater quality of life.
Impact of Untreated Hearing Loss
Hearing loss reduces capacity to hear and process speech as well as sound. This significantly affects hearing and communication which are essential ways we experience and make sense of everyday life. Major effects of untreated hearing loss include:
- Strained communication: hearing loss produces various symptoms that make it tough to hear. This includes muffling or distorting sounds as well as tinnitus (a buzzing or ringing noise in the ears). These symptoms make it hard to hear, especially in places with background noise. People may lip read to help identify words, frequently ask for something to be repeated, pretend to hear, try to keep a conversation short etc. These effects prevent effective communication and can create unpleasant interactions.
- Toll on relationships: strained communication can significantly impact relationships. From arguing over the volume of the TV to avoiding conversations and not being able to engage in daily activities with ease, these effects can contribute to tension and distance in relationships. People often report feeling unheard or ignored by their loved one with hearing loss, straining relationships.
- Social withdrawal: a common outcome of untreated hearing loss is social withdrawal. People tend to avoid conversations because they become so laborious and uncomfortable to navigate. This includes avoiding family gatherings, skipping out on social activities, and spending less time with loved ones. Social withdrawal and deteriorate social life, impact relationships, and produce isolation.
- Increased health risks: research shows that untreated hearing loss can increase a number of health risks. This includes cognitive decline, depression, falls, and accidental injuries.
These outcomes of untreated hearing loss can profoundly impact everyday life, health, and wellness. This highlights the importance of intervening to address symptoms by seeking hearing loss treatment.
Benefits of Treatment
Fortunately, there are effective and painless ways that hearing loss is treated. Treatment offers numerous benefits that are life-changing. This includes:
- Strengthening communication: hearing aids are the most common treatment for hearing loss. These electronic devices are designed to absorb and process speech as well as sound. Hearing aids provide the ears adn brain with significant support that alleviates symptoms and maximizes one’s capacity to hear. This enables people to hear and communicate with greater ease, strengthening communication. People are better able to participate in conversations, strengthening communication.
- Improving relationships: strengthened communication improves relationships tremendously. Hearing aids allow people to spend quality time with loved ones and have easeful conversations. This supports connection and improves relationships.
- Enriching social life: hearing aids provide hearing support in all environments. They also maximize technologies that deliver sound in noisier settings, like social settings which can be harder to hear in. Features like digital noise reduction and voice recognition allow people to readily access and hear speech. This allows people to navigate social settings, activities, and conversations with greater support which enriches social life.
- Supporting work performance: treating hearing loss also improves work performance. Hearing aids strengthen hearing and communication which allows people to better manage and perform work responsibilities.
- Boosting overall health: hearing aids also improve overall health. Substantial research highlights the positive impacts hearing aids have on health and wellness. They decrease health risks like cognitive decline and depressive symptoms. Hearing aids support cognitive functions, boosting brain health. In addition, they increase spatial awareness and safety which allows people to navigate everyday spaces independently. By enriching social life and improving relationships, hearing aids also support mental health.
These benefits significantly support health and wellness. You can invest in your hearing health with one simple step: schedule an appointment for a hearing consultation. Contact us today!