Pros And Cons Of Hearing Loss

Title: Why You Shouldn't Ignore Your Hearing Loss

Research says that the untreated hearing loss can have fatal consequences, especially as we age. If you have noticed yourself asking people to repeat things more often, it may be the early signs of a hearing loss condition.

A hearing impairment can affect the people of all ages. And the obvious reason to get early assistance is that the hearing problem can get worse if you ignore them.

While not everyone will deal with the same level of seriousness, the question is - if getting a hearing loss is so easy and accessible, is taking a chance really worth it? Image Credit 1: [Health line]

Ignoring Your Hearing Loss Can be Fatal

The quality of life is greatly affected while ignoring the hearing

Due to low hearing capacity, the listener tries hard to make sense out of the auditory information. In this process, the cognitive load increases significantly. The people tend to divert the actual instruction as they have invested many efforts in perceiving and understanding the current conversation.

2) Dementia - People with mild, moderate and severe hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia than the people with normal hearing. Though there are other factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, age, sex and race, hearing loss and dementia are still strongly associated. The strain of decoding sounds over the years may overpower the brains of people with hearing loss, leaving them more vulnerable to dementia.

3) Depression - Hearing loss and depression go hand-in-hand. It's a chain where hearing loss leads to social isolation and this further leads to depression. A study [1] by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) shows that more than 11 percent of people with hearing loss had depression as opposed to only 5 percent in the general population. The obvious symptoms of depression like sadness and feeling of hopelessness are caused due to hearing loss. Fatigue, loss of appetite, difficulty concentrating, irritability and loss of interest in hobbies also add up to interfere with daily life.

The social isolation due to hearing loss and the lack of stimulation delivered through the ears to the brain are the major reasons for this connection. The people with untreated hearing loss are seen less healthy than those seeking the treatment.

Emotions: A comparison of older adults using the hearing aids and the ones who are not, depict a significance difference in the general satisfaction and happiness in life. The people who did not treat their hearing loss issue were more likely to report sadness, depression, anxiety, worry, insecurity, less social activity and emotional turmoil. The major reason behind this is communication. With the hearing loss, people find it difficult to have smooth communication, demanding them to cut off from the rest of the world.

Finances: This affects indirectly. Citing the high cost of hearing aids, a majority of people refuse to undergo hearing loss treatment. In this way, they try to save money. But, on the other hand, they are actually paying the cost of lost income and higher health care needs. Their inability to engage in everyday communication is one of the major consequences that they face while ignoring hearing loss. This ultimately leads to low performance and hence, low