Putting off on important appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amongst the hustle and bustle of day-to-day events. You may even find yourself hesitating to get hearing aids altogether. But hearing loss impacts more than only your ears and delaying treatment can have detrimental effects on your entire life.
Untreated hearing loss can lead to a greater risk of mental decline
A clear link between cognitive decline and neglected hearing loss has been demonstrated by scientists and researchers. This underscores the critical 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 essential to never disregard any symptoms of hearing loss. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or delaying the purchase of hearing aids, you unintentionally subject your ears to additional damage.
The advancement of your hearing loss will be accelerated if you continuously need to crank up the volume on your devices. Using a hearing aid can help mitigate this by selectively amplifying specific frequencies, thereby slowing down the progression of hearing loss.
The connection between neglected hearing loss and mental function
There’s a direct link between your sense of hearing and your brain. Research indicates that neglected hearing loss can have significant consequences on mental function. Social solitude, often a consequence of weakened hearing, can result in mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, which in turn can worsen cognitive decline over time.
Furthermore, long-term untreated hearing loss causes the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from auditory processing to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the recovery of normal hearing function later on.
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, prolonged neglected hearing loss can result in significant rewiring of the brain, making it difficult to revert to previous functionality.
But it is possible to reverse this effect. In both the short and the long term, using hearing aids can bring significant benefits even if you’ve put off on getting treatment for some time.
Set up an appointment with a hearing specialist
While timely treatment is ideal, it’s never too late to address hearing loss. Making an appointment with us as soon as possible is important, ensuring you can enjoy improved hearing and cognitive function moving forward. Call today!