Putting off on important appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amidst the hustle and bustle of day-to-day events. You may even find yourself hesitating to order hearing aids altogether. But hearing loss affects more than only your ears and delaying treatment can have detrimental effects on your entire life.
The link to mental decline
Scientists have demonstrated a clear connection between untreated hearing loss and cognitive decline. This underscores the critical importance of not delaying treatment, as it can have negative effects on your brain function also.
The impact on hearing
If you care about the health of your hearing, it’s important to never neglect any symptoms of hearing loss. You inadvertently cause more harm to your hearing if you put off on getting a hearing test or hearing aids if you need them.
You might find yourself constantly boosting the volume on your various devices, exacerbating the damage to your ears and accelerating the progression of hearing loss. Using a hearing aid can help alleviate this by selectively amplifying specific frequencies, thereby slowing down the advancement of hearing loss.
The connection to mental function
There’s a close connection between your sense of hearing and your brain. Mental function can be seriously impacted by neglected hearing loss according to some significant research. Over time, mental decline can be exacerbated by depression and anxiety caused by social separation.
Also, the restoration of healthy hearing function can be complicated because neglected hearing loss will force the brain to adjust by reallocating mental resources from other functions, such as visual processes, over to auditory processes.
Navigating neuroplasticity
The brain’s amazing ability to adapt, known as neuroplasticity, is both a friend and a foe in this situation. The brain will have a hard time reverting back to its previous state after it rewires itself to accommodate for prolonged neglected hearing loss.
But it is possible to undo this effect. Despite previous delays in seeking treatment, using hearing aids as prescribed by a specialist can still yield substantial benefits in both the short and long term.
Call us for an appointment
You should obviously seek 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!