Putting off on essential appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amidst the hustle and bustle of day-to-day events. You might not even get around to shopping for hearing aids at all. But hearing loss impacts more than only your ears and holding off on treatment can have negative effects on your entire life.
Neglected hearing loss can result in a greater risk of cognitive decline
A clear connection between cognitive decline and neglected hearing loss has been demonstrated by scientists and researchers. This underscores the crucial importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have adverse effects on your mental function also.
Hearing loss will get worse if it’s neglected
If you care about the health of your hearing, it’s important to never neglect any symptoms of hearing loss. You unintentionally cause more damage to your hearing if you put off on getting a hearing test or hearing aids if you need them.
The advancement of your hearing loss will be accelerated if you constantly need to crank up the volume on your devices. Wearing a hearing aid can help mitigate this by selectively amplifying specific frequencies, thereby delaying the development of hearing loss.
The link to mental function
Your brain and your hearing are closely connected. Research shows that untreated hearing loss can have substantial repercussions on mental function. Social solitude, frequently a consequence of diminished hearing, can result in mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, which in turn can exacerbate mental decline over time.
Moreover, long-term untreated hearing loss causes the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from processing sound to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the restoration of healthy hearing function down the road.
Navigating neuroplasticity
The brain’s phenomenal 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 extended untreated hearing loss.
However, it isn’t impossible to undo these effects. Despite previous delays in getting 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 seek treatment as soon as you can, but even if you’ve put off for a while, it’s not too late to get help. Scheduling an appointment with us as soon as possible is important, ensuring you can enjoy better hearing and cognitive function going forward. Call today!