Multiple studies have proven that loss of hearing can have an impact on your brain. (Just look at some of our previous blog posts.) Hearing Aids, luckily, have been proven to be capable of helping you regain some of that cognitive ability.
We’re not claiming that you will become more intelligent just by using hearing aids. But there’s some compelling research that suggests cognitive ability can be improved by wearing hearing aids lowering your risk for depression, dementia, and anxiety.
Your Brain is Responsible For a Significant Amount of Your Hearing
To recognize the connection between cognition and your ears, it’s important to understand that a significant percentage of your hearing actually takes place in your brain. It’s the brain’s task to transform sound vibrations into perceptible sound information. So as your hearing wanes, the regions of your brain that translate those sounds suddenly have much less to do.
In combination with other considerations (such as social isolation), the alterations in your brain (and hearing) can lead to the onset of certain mental health problems. In individuals with untreated hearing loss, it’s not uncommon to notice an increase in the risks of depression, anxiety, and dementia.
When you use hearing aids, you’re essentially “treating” your hearing loss. That means:
- The regions of your brain responsible for hearing will get regular workouts; the more your brain performs work, the healthier your brain will be.
- Because you’ll be capable of coupling your hearing aids with regular screening and other treatment options, you can stop your hearing from becoming increasingly worse.
- You’ll be less likely to isolate yourself socially. Conversations will be easier to understand and follow, so you’ll be more likely to participate.
Keeping You on Your Toes
Hearing aids stimulate your brain and your social life and can lessen dementia, depression, and anxiety.
- New technology: Hearing aids have started incorporating unique technology that can actually notify emergency contacts (or emergency services) when a person wearing the hearing aids experiences a fall. This may not prevent the fall in the first place, but it can lessen long-term injuries or complications due to the fall.
- The health of your inner ear: Inner ear damage is not triggered by hearing loss alone. But there is normally a common cause for both hearing loss and damage to the inner ear. So treating the one can help you treat the other, and in certain circumstances, a hearing aid is a part of that treatment regimen.
- Creating stronger awareness: Occasionally, you fall because you aren’t aware of your surroundings. Diminished ability to hear can drastically lessen your situational awareness. Not only can it be hard to hear sounds, but it can also be challenging to ascertain what direction sounds are coming from. A fall or other injury can be the outcome.
Ultimately, when you’re wearing a hearing aid, you’re more likely to steer clear of a fall to start with. A hearing aid improves your physical health and your cognitive capacity while performing the essential tasks of helping you stay more aware, more alert, and more connected.
Stop Neglecting Your Hearing Aid
None of this has even yet discussed the fundamental hearing benefits of hearing aids. So when you take that amplified hearing, include the mental health benefits and physical well-being, it seems like wearing these devices should be a simple decision (not something you need to put your thinking cap on for).
The problem is that many people don’t know they have hearing loss. When your hearing disappears slowly, you might have a difficult time recognizing it. That’s why it’s significant to get your hearing examined on a regular basis. Without hearing aids, hearing loss can exacerbate a wide range of other health problems.
The ideal hearing aid can, in part, slow the onset of depression and dementia, while lessening the incidents of certain physical injuries. That’s a striking combination of advantages that hearing aids offer, and they also help your hearing.