If you’re not managing your symptoms properly, hearing loss can put you in the hospital. I know that sounds like an exaggeration. Most people think of hearing loss as an inconvenience that makes it difficult to hear the TV or what someone is saying at worst.
But the long-term health effects of neglected hearing loss is beginning to get serious attention from researchers.
How is Your Health Linked to Hearing Loss?
At first glance, hearing loss doesn’t seem to have much to do with other health indicators. But research conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicates that over time, visits to the hospital can increase by up to 50% for someone with untreated hearing loss. The possibility of serious health issues rises the longer hearing loss remains untreated.
That seems like a strange discovery: what does hearing have to do with your general health? The answer is complicated.
The Connection Between Mental Health And Hearing
Here are a few of the health problems connected to hearing loss:
- Balance problems. Hearing loss can make it harder to keep your balance and maintain situational focus.
- You start to lose your memory. In fact, your odds of getting dementia is twice as high with untreated hearing loss.
- Higher instance of anxiety and depression. Simply stated, neglected hearing loss can increase depression and anxiety, which will then have a powerfully negative impact on your physical body, not to mention your mental health.
Hearing Aids Really Help
It’s not all gloom and doom, though. Far from it. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School research suggests that up to 75% of hearing loss associated cognitive decline can be stopped in its tracks by one easy solution: using a hearing aid.
The health risks associated with hearing loss can be seriously mitigated by using hearing aids. The following improvements were revealed in people who used hearing aids for as little as two weeks:
- Balance and awareness improvements.
- Traumatic brain injury reductions.
- Improvements in brain function.
Over a period of about twenty years, Johns Hopkins collected and examined data from over 77,000 individuals. And the conclusion is staggeringly simple: protecting your hearing is essential to preserving your health. Being sick can be costly, so caring for your hearing also safeguards your financial well being.
Preserving Your Hearing And Your Health
Hearing loss is a perfectly typical part of getting older, although it’s not exclusive to getting older. Hearing loss can develop at any age due to accidents, occupational hazards, or diseases.
However or whenever you lose your hearing, it’s really important to address it. Your health could depend on it.