You can end up in the hospital if you don’t correctly manage your hearing loss symptoms. You may think that this is somewhat of an exaggeration. Most people think of hearing loss as an inconvenience that makes it tough to hear the TV or what somebody is saying at worst
But the long-term health effects of untreated hearing loss is beginning to get significant attention from researchers.
What Does Hearing Loss Have to do With Your Health?
Hearing loss doesn’t, at first glance, seem as if it has much of a connection to other health concerns. But research conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reveals that over time, visits to the hospital can increase by as much as 50% for someone with untreated hearing loss. The chance of serious health issues goes up the longer hearing loss goes untreated.
That seems like a curious discovery: what does hearing have to do with your overall health? That question can have a complicated answer.
The Connection Between Mental Health And Hearing
Here are a few of the health concerns connected to hearing loss:
- Loss of balance. Hearing loss can make it more difficult to keep your balance and maintain situational awareness.
- Higher instance of depression and anxiety. Basically, the likelihood of anxiety and depression increases with hearing loss and that will lead to health issues both physical and mental.
- You begin to lose your memory. As a matter of fact, your odds of getting dementia double with untreated hearing loss.
Hearing Aids Really Help
There’s some good news though. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School research indicates that up to 75% of hearing loss related cognitive decline can be halted by one simple solution: wearing a hearing aid.
Wearing a hearing aid has a profound impact on mitigating the dangers linked to untreated hearing loss. The following improvements were revealed in individuals who used hearing aids for as little as two weeks:
- Improvements in brain function.
- Traumatic brain injury reductions.
- Improvements in balance and awareness.
The team from Johns Hopkins studied data from 77,000 patients accumulated over about twenty years. And what they found is surprisingly simple: safeguarding your hearing is crucial to preserving your health. Taking care of your hearing health also helps your finances, because being sick can be expensive.
Preserving Your Hearing And Your Health
Hearing loss is a perfectly common part of getting older, though it’s not exclusive to aging. Due to accidents, disease, and occupational hazards, hearing loss can happen at any age.
However or whenever you lose your hearing, it’s really important to address it. Your health could depend on it.