Everybody wants to stay youthful for as long as they can. From wrinkle creams to Botox to special diets to spin class, we spend a great number of hours every day doing everything we can to slow down the aging process. And yet, even with all that effort (and all those hours), the one thing that might actually work, we tend to avoid: using ear protection.
Hearing impairment is often one of those “signs of aging” that we often consider to be inevitable. But it’s not that simple. You can keep your hearing in good shape and help prevent damage by protecting and caring for your ears. And great hearing can have considerable anti-aging benefits as the years go on.
Aging And Hearing
When we speak about “aging” we don’t usually mean the actual passage of time. Instead, specific mental. emotional, or physical changes are signs that a person is getting older. Pain in your joints is a perfect example of this. You may relate sore knees, for instance, with “growing old”. But lifestyle has as much to do with this as age does.
Many types of hearing loss fall under this category. There’s an accumulation of damage as you grow older. The accumulation of damage, in most situations, is the real cause of hearing degeneration. And it’s typically downhill from there. Neglected hearing loss has been associated with several other indications of aging:
- Sometimes, issues such as insomnia and loss of memory, can be initiated by the mental strain of trying to hear. And, in a particularly intense way, that can cause you to feel like you are getting old.
- Self isolation from friends and family can be the consequence of untreated hearing loss.
- The onset of mental problems, including dementia, can often be accelerated by neglected or undetected hearing loss.
- Anxiety and depression have been demonstrated to have a strong link to hearing loss.
So How do I Overcome Age-Related Hearing Loss?
When you combat the “signs of aging” in your ears, you’re really placing an emphasis on controlling damage. And luckily, there are quite a few ways to achieve that. Here are some things you can do:
- Become more aware. It isn’t just the painfully loud noises that can cause damage. Your hearing can also be damaged by moderate noise if you are exposed to it for long time periods.
- Wear ear protection to work if your job exposes you to loud noise. With modern quality ear muffs, loud noises are filtered out while voices are still able to be heard with clarity.
- As much as possible, steer clear of loud noises. And when you can’t stay away from high volume areas, use hearing protection. So make sure you wear earplugs when you go to that rock concert.
Your ears can be protected by all of these actions. But there’s one more thing you can do to keep your ears in fighting shape: make an appointment with us for a hearing examination. Making certain you undergo hearing screenings regularly can help you discover hearing loss before it’s even noticeable. You should still have a screening even if your hearing is fine so that you can have a baseline to compare against in the future.
Keep Your Hearing Healthy by Wearing Hearing Aids
We live in a noisy world. Even with your best effort to protect your hearing, you still may ultimately detect some hearing loss. You should seek out help as soon as possible if you do detect any symptoms of hearing loss. A good pair of hearing aids can help lessen some of the so-called age-related problems related to hearing impairments.
You can maybe think of hearing aids as a facelift for your ears: something to make your ears to function a little more youthfully. And that can help keep depression, dementia, and other issues from increasing. This example only goes so far since a facelift is cosmetic and hearing aids are necessary. You might look younger if you use wrinkle cream. But your best choice, if want to feel younger, is to deal with your hearing loss and protect your hearing.