That loss of hearing can affect your brain has been established in numerous studies. (Some of our previous blogs clearly show that.) The good news is, it’s also been proven that you can regain some of that cognitive ability by using hearing aids.
We’re not claiming that you will get more intelligent just by wearing hearing aids. But there’s some compelling research that suggests hearing aids can increase cognitive abilities, lowering your risk for depression, dementia, and anxiety.
You Do a Lot of Hearing With Your Brain
It’s important to recognize how big a part your brain plays in hearing if you are going to understand the link between your ears and cognition. That’s where the vibrations of the world are converted into the sounds of your surroundings. The parts of the brain that decipher sound will suddenly have less to do when hearing begins to wane.
Combined with other considerations (such as social isolation), the alterations in your brain (and hearing) can lead to the onset of specific mental health issues. Depression, dementia, and anxiety are far more obvious in people who have untreated hearing loss.
Your effectively “treating” your hearing loss when you’re wearing hearing aids. That means:
- Your brain will stay healthier if it continues doing work; your brain will be getting a more frequent workout in the regions responsible for hearing.
- Social alienation won’t be as likely. You will be more likely to engage with people if you’re able to hear and understand interactions.
- Because you’ll be able to couple your hearing aids with consistent screening and other treatments, you can stop your hearing from getting increasingly worse.
Staying Attentive
Hearing aids can lessen depression, anxiety, and dementia because they enhance your brain and your social life.
- Creating greater awareness: Sometimes, you fall because you’re not aware of your surroundings. Your situational awareness can be significantly hindered by hearing problems. Determining which direction sound is coming from can be as challenging as hearing sound in general. Without treatment, this can end up causing a fall or injury.
- Inner ear health: Hearing loss in and of itself will not trigger inner ear injury. But there is typically a common cause for both hearing loss and inner ear damage. So treating the one can help you treat the other, and in many circumstances, a hearing aid is a component of that treatment routine.
- New technology: Some contemporary hearing aids, when a person falls, can instantly notify emergency services. This can lessen long lasting injuries and complications even though it won’t stop the fall itself.
The fact is, you’re more likely to avoid a fall when you’re wearing hearing aids. A hearing aid improves your physical health and cognitive ability while performing the essential tasks of keeping you more mindful, more alert, and more dialed in.
Stop Neglecting Your Hearing Aid
We haven’t even mentioned the fact that a hearing aid can also help you hear. So it seems like when you consider all of the benefits related to wearing hearing aids, it’s a no brainer. (not something you need to put your thinking cap on for).
The problem is that many people don’t know they have hearing loss. When your hearing goes away slowly, you may have a hard time recognizing it. That’s why it’s critical to get your hearing tested regularly. Without hearing aids, hearing loss can worsen a wide range of other health issues.
The right hearing aid can, in part, slow the onset of despair and dementia, while reducing the incidents of certain physical incidents. That’s an impressive combination of advantages that hearing aids provide, and they also help you hear.