Over the years, hearing aids have had a stigma. Some people just correlate them with old age. The consequences?
Lots of people, both young and old, forgo hearing aids and suffer needlessly from hearing loss, which is actually connected to several health problems. This is backed up by the numbers: 30 million individuals in the United States suffering from hearing loss, yet only about 15 percent of that group has ever worn a hearing aid.
Additionally, younger people are suffering from hearing loss in greater numbers than ever before: a WHO report from 2015 predicted that too much use of headphones and overly loud music shows and festivals will cause over 1.1 billion teens and young adults to permanently damage their hearing.
Still, changing attitudes and advanced technology have begun to frame hearing aids in a new light, and people are starting to view them in a similar way they look at eye-glasses.
If You Require Hearing Aids, You Should Use Them, Here’s Why
There are a lots of reasons why you should use hearing aids, some of them are surprising and some are obvious.
Some of the most common reasons are as follows:
- Social activities will be more enjoyable
- You’ll give your brain a break
- You’ll be able to earn more money
- One of the obvious reasons would be that you will be able to hear better
- You can decrease tinnitus symptoms
- Conversations will be a lot smoother
- You won’t need to turn the music or TV up
Do these sound like good reasons to you? Some advantage can be gained by wearing hearing aids even for individuals with slight hearing loss.
What many people don’t know is that hearing loss is connected to mental decline, mental health issues, and conditions such as Alzheimers disease and dementia.
This may occur for a number of different reasons as reported by recent studies, including that the brain gets overtaxed and overtired because it’s always attempting to comprehend sounds. It might be that the brain cells don’t receive enough stimulation so they shrink and die, or it could be connected to social isolation, which is a major cause of depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems.
By letting you hear words and sounds near you more clearly, hearing aids can help alleviate these problems. Your brain can then process the sounds as it normally would without having to use extra resources, while you will start to enjoy conversations and social experiences again because you will gain more confidence.
Hearing Aids Have Advanced in Sophistication
We told you why it’s essential for anyone with hearing loss, young or old, to use hearing aids. Now it’s time to find out how hearing aids have progressed in the last few years.
If really want one of those big over the ear hearing aids, you can still purchase one. They perform their function effectively and have progressed to the point where the majority of them don’t have a problem filtering out background sounds such as wind or determining which direction sound comes from. However, there are new and improved versions of hearing aids that are nearly unnoticeable, yet pack quite a bit of technology to fit in with today’s digital world.
Do you want to sync your hearing aid to your smartphone, tablet, television, or even your car’s navigation system? Most contemporary hearing aids come with Bluetooth technology so you’re in luck. There are even higher-end models keep track of your physical health, take calls for you, stream music. Smart hearing aids are becoming a must for anyone who has hearing loss because like your smartphone or smartwatch, they’re just designed to do more. So now that you are ready to deal with your hearing loss and begin wearing a hearing aid, consult with us for an appointment and hearing assessment.
