If you’re not managing your symptoms properly, hearing loss can put you in the hospital. You may think that this is somewhat of an exaggeration. We’re used to thinking of hearing loss as not much more than an inconvenience – something that makes the news a bit tougher to hear or, at worst, makes you unknowingly agree to something you didn’t mean.
But new research is causing alarm over the long-term health impacts of untreated hearing loss.
What Does Hearing Loss Have to do With Your Health?
Hearing loss doesn’t, at first glance, seem as if it has very much of a relationship with other health concerns. But research carried out by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that over time, visits to the hospital can increase by up to 50% for somebody with neglected hearing loss. The longer the hearing loss goes unmanaged, the more significant the health troubles become.
That’s a puzzling finding: how is your general state of health associated with your ability to hear? That question can have a complicated answer.
Hearing Health And Mental Health
Untreated hearing loss has been linked to a number of other health concerns, including:
- You begin to lose your memory. In fact, your odds of developing dementia double with neglected hearing loss.
- Higher instances of depression and anxiety. Simply stated, neglected hearing loss can increase depression and anxiety, which will then have a strong negative effect on your physical body, to say nothing of your mental health.
- Balance balance issues. Hearing loss can make it harder to keep your balance and maintain situational awareness.
Hearing Aids Really Help
It’s not all gloom and doom, though. Far from it. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School research indicates that up to 75% of the mental decline linked to hearing loss can be stopped in its tracks by one basic solution: wearing a hearing aid.
Wearing a hearing aid has a powerful impact on mitigating the dangers associated with neglected hearing loss. According to the research, patients who wore hearing aids for only two weeks saw:
- Brain function improvements.
- Improvements in balance and awareness.
- Severe brain injury reductions.
Over a period of roughly two decades, Johns Hopkins collected and examined data from more than 77,000 people. And a critical part of maintaining your health lies in safeguarding your hearing which is a staggering conclusion. Taking care of your hearing health also helps your finances, because being sick costs money.
Caring For Your Health And Your Hearing
Hearing loss is a perfectly normal part of getting older, though it’s not exclusive to getting older. Hearing loss can happen at any age as a result of occupational hazards, accidents, or diseases.
However, it’s essential to acknowledge any hearing loss you may be experiencing. Your health could depend on it.
