The benefits of treating hearing loss reverberate far beyond our ears. In fact, choosing to treat your hearing loss with hearing aids has the potential to positively impact almost every major area of your life! Many people choose to treat their hearing loss to help with one or more of these issues and are surprised to learn just how much their hearing aids have improved their lives in many different areas.
While the benefits of treating hearing loss extend far beyond this list here are some of our favorite benefits of treating hearing loss:
Hearing aids help to improve relationships
- Improved relationships at home. Choosing to treat your hearing loss with hearing aids means that you will be able to better connect with and communicate with the people you hold most dear. Multiple studies have found that treating hearing loss can help to improve romantic relationships and relationships with close friends and family. This makes sense as communication is the basis of most human connection and true human connection is the foundation to healthy relationships!
- Improved relationships at work. Choosing to treat your hearing loss with hearing aids can also improve your relationships at work. In fact, studies have found that people with untreated hearing loss are seen as less capable by their coworkers than those who choose to treat their hearing loss with hearing aids. On top of this, people with untreated hearing loss are more likely to be passed up for promotions than their peers without hearing loss.
- Improved relationship with yourself. Many of us don’t take much time to think about it but our relationship with ourselves is a very important one! Studies have found that treating hearing loss with hearing aids can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, increase self-esteem, and decrease risk for social isolation, loneliness and withdrawal from social interactions!
Hearing aids help to improve safety
- Decreased risk of injury. When a person chooses to treat their hearing loss with hearing aids, they greatly decrease their risk of a slip or fall that could cause serious injury. When a person has improved hearing, they are better able to identify danger cues such as the sound of their dog walking up behind them and other sounds in their environment that provide safety cues. This naturally helps to reduce falls and injury.
- Decreased risk of accidents or emergencies. We’ve all done it. We’ve all accidentally left the stove or oven on. We’ve all accidentally left the refrigerator door open or food in the microwave. Many times, however, we are alerted to this mistake by our appliances giving us a gentle reminder with a beep. When hearing loss is left untreated one is less likely able to immediately hear these types of warnings and more likely to find themselves in a dangerous situation.
Hearing aids improve health
- Improved cognitive health. Untreated hearing loss is very closely correlated with dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease. It has been found over and over again that untreated hearing loss is a risk factor for developing dementia. Luckily, studies have also found that choosing to treat your hearing loss with hearing aids can significantly decrease the rate of cognitive decline you experience. Recently according to a small study, in the journal of clinical medicine, 97.3% of individuals with hearing loss showed increase in cognitive ability after 18 months of hearing aid use. Now that is indeed very encouraging!
- Improved emotional health. We touched on this one above but it’s important enough to mention it again. Hearing aids can significantly improve emotional health in not only the hearing aid wearer herself but also those around her. Hearing aids have been associated with an improved sense of self, increased confidence, decreased risk for symptoms of depression and anxiety and improved overall happiness.
Improved overall quality of life
Reconnecting with enjoyable activities such as bird watching and engaging in social events. Finally understanding the funny little stories that your grandchildren tell. Catching that whispered “I love you” from your spouse at a busy restaurant. The list goes on and on and it would be impossible to list all of the wonderful benefits of treating hearing loss with hearing aids.
If you have started to notice changes to your hearing or are curious about your hearing health, reach out to our friendly team at the Hearing Health Center of Houston today. Who knows, you may be making the first step to improving many areas in your life!