Something like 28 million people could benefit from wearing hearing aids. What this means is that 28 million people could here their world clearer if they wore hearing aids. But there are also some other, fairly surprising health advantages that you can begin to take advantage of thanks to your hearing aids.
As it turns out, something as simple as using your hearing aids could help your physical and mental health. Everything from a risk of falling to depression can be slowed or even stopped by these devices. Your hearing aids can literally keep you on your feet.
Mental Health Advantages of Hearing Aids
Modern medical studies have firmly demonstrated a link between cognitive decline and hearing loss. Mental illnesses such as depression, cognitive decline, anxiety, and dementia, in line with current thinking, can be induced by hearing loss due to a mix of mental, physical and social factors.
So it’s no surprise that recent analyses has suggested that hearing aids may have considerable mental health benefits.
Lowering Your Chances of Dementia
Based on one study, wearing your hearing aids can help decrease your chances of developing dementia by up to 18%. That’s a fantastic advantage when all you have to do is remember to wear your hearing aids every day.
Other studies have indicated that wearing your hearing aids on a regular basis can forestall the onset of dementia by as many as two years. This is very inspiring and with more research done to duplicate and clarify these figures, we can come a long way in the battle against mental decline and illness.
Depression And Anxiety Can be Reduced
Anxiety and depression aren’t symptoms that are unique to individuals who have hearing loss. But there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that people who have hearing loss are at increased risk of developing both depression and anxiety as time goes on.
Wearing your hearing aids can help you stay socially active and mentally engaged. If those factors were contributing to anxiety and depression, they can help.
You Won’t be as Lonely
While it might not seem as dire or important as dementia, for people with untreated hearing loss, isolation can be a genuine problem, social isolation often being the cause and adding fuel to the fire. That social isolation can cause substantial changes to your mood. So being able to continue to be social and connected with help from your hearing aid can be a big advantage.
And this is a good reason why, for example, your hearing aid can help prevent conditions like depression. To a certain degree, all of these health concerns are linked in some manner.
Hearing Aids And Physical Advantages
There is some evidence which suggests that as hearing loss symptoms become more noticeable, your risk of stroke escalates. But that specific research is undoubtedly in the preliminary stages. The most obvious (and noticeable) physical advantage of hearing aids is a little more straightforward: you won’t fall as often.
There are a couple of reasons for this:
- Fall detection: Sometimes, it’s not the fall that’s perilous. Instead, it’s your inability to get back up that produces possible danger. Many new designs of hearing aids have fall detection built in. You can program emergency phone numbers into your phone which will be automatically called if you take a tumble.
- Situational awareness: Hearing aids can increase your situational awareness.
As you get older falling down can have a disastrous effect on your health. So your general health can be safeguarded by decreasing damage from falls or preventing them altogether.
Be Certain to Wear Your Hearing Aids
These benefits, it’s worth mentioning, apply to people who suffer from hearing impairment. Hearing aids won’t, for example, help somebody with healthy hearing avoid falling.
But if you do have hearing loss, the best thing you can do for your hearing, and for the rest of your body, is to use your hearing aids.
