That hearing loss can impact your brain has been confirmed in several studies. (Just look at some of our recent blog posts.) Hearing Aids, fortunately, have been proven to be capable of helping you regain some of that cognitive capacity.
We’re not stating that you will become more intelligent just by wearing hearing aids. But there’s some compelling research that suggests cognitive ability can be improved by using hearing aids lowering your risk for depression, dementia, and anxiety.
Your Brain is Responsible For a Large Amount of Your Hearing
To comprehend the connection between cognition and your ears, it’s crucial to understand that a considerable portion of your hearing actually takes place in your brain. That’s where the vibrations of the world are converted into the sounds of your environment. So as your hearing wanes, the parts of your brain that interpret those sounds suddenly have a lot less to do.
When combined with other variables (like social solitude), the changes in your brain (and hearing) can trigger the onset of specific mental health issues. In persons with neglected hearing loss, it’s not unusual to notice an increase in the dangers of depression, anxiety, and dementia.
When you wear hearing aids, you’re essentially “treating” your hearing loss. That means:
- Because you’ll be able to couple your hearing aids with routine monitoring and other treatment options, you can stop your hearing from getting increasingly worse.
- Your brain will stay healthier if it keeps working; your brain will be getting a more consistent workout in the parts responsible for hearing.
- Social alienation won’t be as likely. You will be more likely to participate with people if you can hear and understand conversations.
Keeping You on Your Toes
Hearing aids can counter dementia, anxiety, and depression because they stimulate your brain and your social life.
- Creating better awareness: Occasionally, because you aren’t aware of your environment, you might have a fall. Your situational awareness can be severely hindered by hearing issues. Determining what direction sound is originating from can be as challenging as hearing sound in general. A fall or other accident can be the outcome.
- Inner ear health: Hearing loss by itself will not result in 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 some instances, a hearing aid is a part of that treatment routine.
- State of the art technology: Hearing aids have started containing novel technology that can actually alert emergency contacts (or emergency services) when someone wearing the hearing aids has a fall. This can prevent long lasting injuries and complications even though it won’t stop the fall itself.
Inevitably, when you’re using a hearing aid, you’re more likely to avoid a fall to begin with. A hearing aid keeps you more alert, more aware, and more tuned in, improving cognitive capabilities and physical health in the process.
Stop Neglecting Your Hearing Aid
None of this has even yet dealt with the fundamental hearing benefits of hearing aids. So when you take that amplified hearing, factor in the mental health advantages and physical well-being, it seems as if wearing these devices should be a simple choice (Pretty obvious).
The problem is that many people don’t know they have hearing loss. It can be hard to identify loss of hearing when it arises gradually over time. That’s the reason why having a routine hearing exam is important. A wide variety of other health issues can be aggravated by loss of hearing.
The correct hearing aid can, in part, slow the beginning of depression and dementia, while decreasing the occasions of certain physical incidents. Aside from helping you hear, hearing aids provide a remarkable number of benefits.