Everybody wants to stay youthful for as long as they can. We spend a great number of hours undertaking everything we can to stay youthful. From specialized diets to fad workout programs to Botox to wrinkle creams. And yet, even with all that effort (and all those hours), the one thing that might actually work, we often avoid: using ear protection.
Many people probably think of hearing loss as inevitable as we get older. But it’s not that simple. You can keep your hearing in great shape and help prevent damage by safeguarding and caring for your ears. And as the years go on, strong hearing can have significant anti-aging rewards.
Hearing And Aging
The actual passing of time is not normally what we are referring to when we talk about aging. Instead, “aging” generally describes the presentation of certain physical, mental, or emotional characteristics that we associate with aging. A perfect example of this is pain in your joints. You may relate sore knees, for instance, with “getting old”. But it’s not age alone that causes the issue (your everyday 5-mile run could have something to do with it, also).
The same is true of many kinds of hearing loss. There’s an accumulation of damage as you grow older. And in most situations, it’s the build-up of damage that leads to the actual hearing degeneration. And that’s when things can start to snowball. A number of other indications of aging have been connected to hearing loss:
- Untreated hearing loss might cause you to self-isolate from family or friends.
- Anxiety and depression have been shown to have a significant connection to hearing loss.
- Sometimes, issues such as insomnia and loss of memory, can be triggered by the mental strain of attempting to hear. And that might make you feel like you’re aging in a particularly profound way.
- The onset of mental issues, including dementia, can sometimes be accelerated by ignored or undetected hearing loss.
What to do About Age Related Hearing Loss
When you battle the “signs of aging” in your ears, you’re really placing an emphasis on controlling damage. And fortunately, there are a number of ways to accomplish that. Here are some things you can do:
- If you happen to work in a somewhat noisy setting, wear ear protection. Modern ear muffs have excellent technology that can let you hear voices with clarity while filtering out loud, damaging environmental sounds.
- As much as possible, avoid loud noises. If you have to expose yourself to loud noise, use hearing protection. So when you go see that concert with your favorite musician, be sure to use earplugs.
- Increase your awareness. You can still suffer harm to your hearing even if sounds are not painfully loud. Moderate sound for extended durations can cause injury to your ears, too.
Your ears can be safeguarded by all of these actions. But if you want to keep your hearing in good shape you can do one more thing: contact us for a hearing examination. Catching hearing loss before you even notice it can be achieved by having regular tests. You should still have a screening even if your hearing is fine so that you can have a standard to compare against in the future.
Wear Hearing Aids to Keep Your Ears Healthy
The world we live in can be loud. Your ability to protect against damage is crucial, but you might ultimately detect some hearing loss despite your best efforts. If that’s the case, it’s essential that you seek help as soon as possible. A good set of hearing aids can help prevent some of the so-called age-related problems related to hearing impairments.
You could maybe think of hearing aids as a facelift for your ears: something to allow your ears to work a little more youthfully. And that can help keep depression, dementia, and other problems from increasing. The analogy isn’t perfect, as hearing aids are necessary and a facelift isn’t, but you get the point. Wrinkle creams could help you look younger. But your best choice, if want to feel younger, is to treat your hearing loss and protect your hearing.
