Hearing Loss: How does it affect my overall health?
The way you hear the world around you plays a big role in your relationships, safety, mental wellness, and even your brain function. Maintaining your hearing health, along with your overall health, will help you to lead a happy and fulfilling life. How exactly does hearing impact our health? Let’s discuss.
Hearing loss can be unsafe.
Hearing certain cues while you’re out in the world or even in your home keeps you safe. Fire alarms, sirens, and even certain notification sounds from your phone are important alerts that let you know when to pay attention. If you are having trouble hearing them, you may not be able to react in time and it can impact your safety. You might also miss out on important details about safety plans during emergencies.
In addition to hearing loss, other vestibular conditions like vestibular balance disorder can add stress to your life. Symptoms include feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or feelings of vertigo. This can lead to an increased risk of falling, or even nausea and vomiting.
Hearing loss can lead to depression.
In general, hearing loss can be very stressful. It becomes especially distressing when you start to withdraw from social settings. You might have trouble with conversations or hearing details during group settings, so you might remove yourself from the situation altogether. This can leave you feeling isolated and disconnected. When your hearing loss is treated, it can help to relieve your upsetting feeling and bring you to connect with loved ones again.
Hearing loss can lead to memory loss.
An unfortunate risk of untreated hearing loss is memory loss. The brain starts to work harder to process what you’re listening to, and it doesn’t expend the energy to commit the details to your memory. You’ll notice that you have trouble remembering certain discussions and recalling important details. Untreated hearing loss can also put you at a greater risk of developing dementia in your lifetime.
Managing your hearing loss as soon as you recognize symptoms can help you prevent a variety of different health risks, and ultimately help you lead a richer life surrounded by your friends and family.
If you suspect you’re dealing with hearing loss, call our office to schedule a test to determine if you could be helped by a hearing aid.