Several studies have confirmed that hearing loss can have an impact on your brain. (Just look at some of our recent blog posts.) Hearing Aids, luckily, have been shown to be capable of helping you regain some of that cognitive ability.
We’re not claiming that you will get smarter just by wearing hearing aids. But there’s some compelling research that suggests cognitive ability can be increased by wearing hearing aids lowering your risk for depression, dementia, and anxiety.
You Accomplish a Lot of Hearing With Your Brain
It’s essential to recognize how significant a part your brain plays in hearing if you are going to comprehend the link between cognition and your ears. It’s the brain’s job to convert sound vibrations into recognizable sound information. The regions of the brain that decipher sound will suddenly have less to do when hearing begins to diminish.
Changes in your brain (and hearing), along with other factors (including social alienation), can trigger the beginning of mental health issues. Depression, dementia, and anxiety are a lot more noticeable in people who have neglected hearing loss.
Your essentially “treating” your hearing loss when you’re wearing hearing aids. That means:
- Your brain stays healthier if it keeps doing work; your brain will be getting a more frequent workout in the parts responsible for hearing.
- You won’t be as likely to isolate yourself socially. You will be more likely to engage with people if you can hear and understand discussions.
- Because you’ll be able to couple your hearing aids with consistent monitoring and other treatment options, you can help keep your hearing from becoming progressively worse.
Keeping You on Your Toes
Hearing aids enhance your brain and your social life and can lessen depression, anxiety, and dementia.
- Inner ear health: Inner ear injury is not caused by hearing loss alone. Notwithstanding, sometimes hearing loss and inner ear damage have a mutual cause. So treating the one can help you treat the other, and in some instances, a hearing aid is a part of that treatment routine.
- New technology: Hearing aids have started incorporating novel technology that is able to notify emergency contacts (or emergency services) when a person wearing the hearing aids has a fall. This might not prevent the fall to begin with, but it can lessen long-lasting injuries or complications due to the fall.
- Creating greater awareness: Occasionally, you fall because you aren’t aware of your surroundings. Your situational awareness can be seriously hampered by hearing issues. Identifying what direction sound is coming from can be as challenging as hearing sound in general. A fall or other accident can be the consequence.
The fact is, you’re more likely to avoid a fall when you’re wearing hearing aids. A hearing aid enhances your physical health and your cognitive ability while performing the important functions of helping you stay more mindful, more focused, and more connected.
Start Using Your Hearing Aid
We haven’t even yet addressed the basic hearing advantages of hearing aids. So it seems as if when you factor in all of the benefits associated with using 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 might have a hard time recognizing it. That’s the reason it’s essential to get your hearing checked on a regular basis. Without hearing aids, loss of hearing can exacerbate a wide range of other health issues.
The ideal hearing aid can, in part, slow the onset of depression and dementia, while reducing the incidents of some physical incidents. Besides helping you hear, hearing aids provide a surprising number of benefits.