Putting off on essential appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amidst the hustle and bustle of daily events. You might not even get around to shopping for hearing aids whatsoever. But hearing loss impacts more than just your ears and holding off on treatment can have detrimental effects on your whole life.
Untreated hearing loss can lead to a higher risk of cognitive decline
Scientists have proven a clear connection between untreated hearing loss and mental decline. This underscores the crucial importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have negative effects on your mental function too.
Hearing loss will worsen if it’s neglected
If you care about your hearing health, it’s important to never disregard any symptoms of hearing loss. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or holding off on the purchase of hearing aids, you unintentionally subject your ears to additional damage.
You may find yourself constantly increasing the volume on your various devices, worsening the damage to your ears and accelerating the development of hearing loss. Hearing aids can increase specific frequencies of sound thereby delaying the development of hearing loss.
The connection between neglected hearing loss and cognitive function
Your brain and your hearing are closely linked. Cognitive function can be severely impacted by untreated hearing loss according to some significant research. Over time, mental decline can be worsened by depression and anxiety brought on by social separation.
Furthermore, prolonged neglected hearing loss causes the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from processing sound to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the recovery of healthy hearing function down the road.
Navigating neuroplasticity
In this scenario, neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, can be both a friend and a foe. While it allows for flexibility and recovery, extended neglected hearing loss can result in considerable rewiring of the brain, making it challenging to revert to previous functionality.
However, it’s not impossible to undo these effects. In spite of previous delays in seeking treatment, using hearing aids as prescribed by a specialist can still yield significant benefits in both the short and long term.
Set up an appointment with a hearing specialist
You should obviously find treatment as soon as you can, but even if you’ve delayed for a while, it’s not too late to get help. If you’re ready to enjoy improved hearing and stronger cognitive function, call us today for an assessment!