5 reasons to act on hearing loss today!

08/11/2018 - Hearing loss, Treatment

Scientific consensus shows that addressing hearing loss earlier leads to better long-term outcomes.

Let’s start with one shocking statistic:

Seven years is the average time it takes for someone to address their hearing loss.

Why is it better to get on top of hearing loss sooner rather than later? Hearing loss can have an effect in five areas of your life, and if you can avoid these effects, so much the better for you.

1. Mental health

More and more studies, including one by John Hopkins Medicine, has connected untreated hearing loss with mental decline, including increased anxiety and depression, accelerated brain shrinkage, and even dementia. This is probably the scariest of the outcomes and there’s still a lot of research to be done.

But if we can reduce the chance or severity of mental decline by addressing hearing loss, we’d say that would be a positive outcome.

2. Physical health

Research has shown that people with untreated hearing loss are three times as likely to have a fall as people without. Yes, falls do become more prevalent as people get older as does the prevalence of hearing loss. But simply treating that hearing loss reduces your chances of falling by two thirds. And as we know, the repercussions of falls become more and more severe the older we get.

3. Income and career

This was a surprise to me as well. but untreated hearing loss can affect your income and your career as well. Studies have shown people with untreated hearing loss on average earn less than those without and were also nearly twice as likely to be unemployed.

Hearing loss is affecting people at a younger age, so it is no longer something that should be left to worried about at a later stage.

4. Personal safety

This one is self-evident. If you can’t hear it you can’t avoid it!

5. Relationships and social interactions

Many complaints about hearing loss come not from the sufferers, but from their partners. The inability to engage, to follow the conversation, or to simply withdraw is a big concern and can have a dramatic impact on relationships. We joke about ‘selective hearing’ but in the end the joke wears thin and frustration sets in and can fester.

So how do I take action?

It’s as simple as getting your hearing clinically assessed by a qualified audiologist like Clarity Hearing + Balance. Depending on the level and type of hearing loss your audiologist can then make recommendations on how you can best help your hearing.

These options may include some simple situational listening strategies, assistive listening devices eg headphones and the like for some situations, hearings aids, or a combination of all three.

It’s a small effort to make for what can potentially be a huge gain in the future.

Make an appointment today with Clarity Hearing + Balance.

Request a booking today!

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