If you’re not managing your symptoms properly, hearing loss can put you in the hospital. I know that sounds like an exaggeration. We usually consider hearing loss as not much more than a hassle – something that makes the news a little tougher to hear or, at worst, makes you unwittingly agree to something you didn’t mean.
But new research is ringing alarm bells about the long-term health impacts of neglected hearing loss.
How is Your Health Related to Hearing Loss?
Hearing loss doesn’t, at first glance, seem as if it has very much of a link to other health concerns. But research carried out by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicates that over time, hospital visits can increase by as much as 50% for someone with untreated hearing loss. The longer the hearing loss remains unmanaged, the more significant the health troubles get.
That seems like a strange discovery: what does hearing have to do with your overall health? That question can have a complicated answer.
Hearing Health And Mental Health
Here are a number of the health issues connected to hearing loss:
- Balance balance issues. Hearing loss can make it harder to keep your balance and keep your situational awareness.
- You begin to lose your memory. In fact, your odds of developing dementia double with neglected hearing loss.
- An increase in anxiety and depression. Basically, the chance of anxiety and depression rises with hearing loss and that will lead to health issues both physical and mental.
Hearing Aids: An effective Solution
There’s some good news though. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School research reveals that up to 75% of hearing loss associated mental decline can be stopped in its tracks by one easy solution: wearing a hearing aid.
Wearing a hearing aid has a profound impact on eliminating the dangers connected to neglected hearing loss. According to the research, people who wore hearing aids for only two weeks saw:
- Improvements in brain function.
- Balance and awareness improvements.
- Reductions in traumatic brain injuries.
Over a period of roughly two decades, Johns Hopkins collected and examined data from more than 77,000 people. And what they found is staggeringly simple: protecting 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 not exclusive to getting older but it is a part of it. Hearing loss can occur at any age because of occupational hazards, accidents, or diseases.
However or whenever you lose your hearing, it’s very important to address it. Otherwise, your health could be negatively impacted.