Millions of people make resolutions for the New Year, hoping to ignite meaningful change in their lives. A more effective approach to health and wellness, improved financial affairs, and learning new things for work and personal development are the common themes each year.
One that should also be on your list of resolutions is to give a higher priority to you hearing health. For most people, this isn’t as high a priority as other goals. But maybe it should be. Our hearing can make a huge difference to other long-term health aspects.
Even if you haven’t discovered any signs of hearing loss so far, getting your hearing checked once a year by a hearing professional is still important. This way, if you start losing some of your hearing capacity, you’ll be able tackle it quickly to reduce the chances of it affecting your life substantially.
Signs you might need a hearing test
Many situations can be indicative of hearing loss or other hearing conditions, which would make a hearing test even more urgent. Take a look at some common signs of hearing loss. Do any resonate with you?
- When on the phone, you have problems understanding the other person.
- Often in noisy environments, you encounter difficulty understanding the conversation you are involved in.
- You often to ask people to repeat things.
- Sometimes you have trouble identifying where a sound is coming from.
- People around you seem to mumble a lot.
- You retreat from social settings so that you don’t have to work hard to understand others.
- You have spent a lot of time in very loud environments.
- You have a feeling of ringing in your ears.
If any of these situations are common to you, it’s best to get your hearing tested as soon as possible.
Why is it important to check your hearing regularly?
Research has shown in recent years that listening concerns many aspects of our health, not just our ears. Whether it is a heightened risk of dementia, shrinks in our cognitive function, or higher incidences of depression, there are many chronic conditions associated with untreated loss of hearing. This is why the earlier detection and treatment of hearing loss can eventually improve our general health and well-being.
Many people will wait until they have severe hearing impairment before getting their hearing tested. This means they might wait an average of seven years before doing something about it. This kind of reluctance to receive treatment would not occur with diabetes or high blood pressure, so why should it be the case with hearing loss?
Benefits of hearing aids
The most common treatment for hearing loss is the use of hearing aids. These electronic devices are worn on or in the ear and help the user hear and understand the things and people around them.
Here are some of the benefits hearing aids could offer you.
Maintain your earning power
Have you ever seen hearing loss treatment as a financial investment in your future? Perhaps you ought to! The better your communication ability with others, the better your workplace performance. Studies by the Better Hearing Institute found that untreated hearing loss can decrease annual earnings by up to $30,000. And that same study revealed that the correction of hearing loss with hearing aids reduces the risk for persons with mild hearing loss by over 90% and for moderately to severely hearing loss by about 77%.
Arrest cognitive decline
Did you know you’re actually damaging your brain by ignoring treatment of your hearing loss? Many recent studies have suggested a link between dementia and untreated hearing loss. Our brain processes sound signals which we interpret as sound. When we are unable to detect the sound with our ears, part so the brain responsible for picking up that sound lie unused. The longer they stand idle; the higher risk they have of atrophy – shrinking away. Research shows however that the use of hearing aids will arrest this cognitive decline by re-stimulating these areas of the brain.
Minimize the effects of tinnitus
If a person often hears a ringing, buzzing, humming, or other similar sounds without any external sound source, he or she is dealing with a condition known as Tinnitus. Hearing aids are an efficient way of hiding the sounds encountered with tinnitus. Recent research suggests that 82% of physician’s report progress in patients with tinnitus after using hearing aids.
Improve relationships
Communication is said to be the basis of all social relations. Good hearing health reduces the annoyance of the inability to speak and understand others in social situations. This improves your social interactions greatly, whether talking to the local store clerk or catching up with an old friend.
Swift Audiology
If you’re ready to take charge of your hearing this year, why not contact us and schedule a hearing test? Our hearing experts are excited to put you on the road to better hearing health, and by extension, a better quality of life.