Something like 28 million people could be helped by using hearing aids. Naturally, when we talk about statistics like that, we usually mean that those 28 million people would hear the world a little more clearly if they had some help (in the form of a specialized device). But your hearing aids will also help you enjoy some other health advantages.
Your physical and mental health can, as it turns out, be helped by something as easy as wearing hearing aids. Everything from depression to a risk of falling can be slowed or even prevented by these devices. In many ways, your hearing aids can help keep you on your feet.
Hearing Aids And Mental Health Advantages
The link between untreated hearing loss and cognitive decline is fairly well established by modern medical research. Mental illnesses including depression, cognitive decline, anxiety, and dementia, in line with current thinking, can be triggered by hearing loss due to a combination of mental, physical and social factors.
So the mental health benefits of hearing aids shouldn’t be very striking.
Dementia Risks Reduced
As reported by one study, wearing your hearing aids can help decrease your chances of developing dementia by up to 18%. And all you need to do to make the most of this awesome benefit is remember to wear your hearing daily.
Other research has indicated that wearing your hearing aids regularly can slow the onset of dementia by as many as two years. This is really encouraging and with more research conducted to duplicate and clarify these numbers, we can come a long way in the fight against mental decline and illness.
Depression And Anxiety Can be Decreased
Depression and anxiety aren’t symptoms that are unique to those who have hearing loss. But there is enough evidence to indicate that those who have hearing loss are at a higher risk of developing both anxiety and depression as time passes.
Wearing your hearing aids can help keep you socially active and mentally connected. If those were contributing factors to depression and anxiety, they can help.
You’ll Feel Less Lonely
While dementia might sound much more extreme, for individuals with neglected hearing loss, isolation can be a serious issue, caused by and exacerbating a sense of social isolation. That social separation can cause substantial changes to your disposition. So it can be a tremendous benefit if your hearing aids can help you stay socially involved.
To be certain, this ties together with your hearing aids’ ability to decrease the risks of depression, for instance. To some degree, all of these health concerns connect in some way.
The Physical Advantages of Hearing Aids
As your hearing impairment worsens, there is some research that shows that you may be at a higher risk of stroke. But that specific research is obviously on the preliminary side. The most pronounced (and noticeable) physical advantage of hearing aids is a little simpler: you won’t fall as often.
This occurs for two reasons:
- Situational awareness:
- Fall detection: Often, it’s getting back up after a fall that is the significant danger, not the fall itself. Fall detection is a built-in feature of many newer hearing aid designs. You can save emergency phone numbers into your phone which will automatically be called if you take a tumble.
Falling can have very substantial health impacts, especially as you age. So preventing falls (or minimizing the damage from falling) can be a significant advantage that ripples throughout your general health.
Be Certain to Wear Your Hearing Aids
It’s worth keeping in mind that all of these benefits apply to people who suffer from hearing ailments. If your hearing is healthy, then using a hearing aid will most likely not reduce your risk of dementia, for example.
But if you do suffer from hearing loss, the smartest thing you can do for your ears, and for the rest of your body, is to wear your hearing aids.