That hearing loss can affect your brain has been proven in several studies. (Just look at some of our past blog posts.) Fortunately, it’s also been verified that you can regain some of that cognitive ability by using hearing aids.
This is not saying that hearing aids are somehow going to make you smarter. But there’s some compelling research that suggests hearing aids can improve cognitive abilities, lowering your risk for depression, dementia, and anxiety.
Your Brain is in Charge of a Substantial Portion of Your Hearing
To understand the link between cognition and your ears, it’s crucial to know that a substantial percentage of your hearing actually happens in your brain. It’s the brain’s task to convert sound vibrations into perceptible sound information. The regions of the brain that translate sound will suddenly have less to do when hearing begins to diminish.
In combination with other factors (like social solitude), the alterations in your brain (and hearing) can lead to the onset of specific mental health issues. Anxiety, depression, and dementia are far more obvious in individuals who have neglected hearing loss.
When you wear hearing aids, you’re essentially “treating” your hearing loss. That means:
- You can stop your hearing from becoming worse by using hearing aids along with regular screening.
- Your brain stays healthier if it keeps doing work; your brain will be getting a more regular workout in the regions responsible for hearing.
- You won’t be as likely to isolate yourself socially. You will be more likely to participate with others if you’re able to hear and understand discussions.
Keeping You on Your Toes
Hearing aids stimulate your brain and your social life and can lessen depression, anxiety, and dementia.
- The health of your inner ear: Loss of hearing by itself will not trigger inner ear injury. But there is normally a common cause for both loss of hearing and damage to the inner ear. So treating the one can help you treat the other, and in many cases, a hearing aid is a component of that treatment routine.
- Boosting awareness: Occasionally, you fall because you aren’t aware of your environment. Decreased ability to hear can drastically reduce your situational awareness. Not only can it be difficult to hear sounds, but it can also be a challenge to determine what direction sounds are originating from. Without treatment, this can end up leading to injury or a fall.
- New technology: Some current hearing aids, when a person falls, can immediately notify emergency services. This might not prevent the fall to begin with, but it can lessen long-lasting injuries or complications caused by the fall.
Inevitably, when you’re wearing a hearing aid, you’re more likely to steer clear of a fall in the first place. A hearing aid boosts your physical health and your cognitive capability while performing the essential tasks of keeping you more mindful, more alert, and more dialed in.
Start Using Your Hearing Aid
None of this has even yet dealt with the basic hearing benefits of hearing aids. So it seems like when you consider all of the positive aspects linked to wearing hearing aids, it’s a no brainer. (Pretty obvious).
The problem is that many people don’t know they have hearing loss. It can be hard to recognize loss of hearing when it occurs slowly over time. That’s the reason why getting a routine hearing test is necessary. Without hearing aids, loss of hearing can exacerbate a wide range of other health issues.
Hearing aids will lessen the likelihood of physical injury while helping to slow dementia and depression. Aside from helping you hear, hearing aids provide a striking number of benefits.