Hearing loss can seriously effect how you live, even when it’s mild. There will be a significant change in the way you connect with family, friends, and coworkers. Everyday activities like going to the supermarket can become more difficult. But it doesn’t have to have this kind of negative impact on you. If you use a well calibrated hearing aid, it can make a big difference.
Most individuals tend to think of those benefits in a very linear sort of way: Hearing aids help you hear better. And that’s not untrue. But how do hearing aids better quality of life? Just how far do the advantages of hearing aids go?
The top ten reasons to get hearing aids
We humans just love creating top ten lists. I bet you didn’t think you would be reading a top ten list about hearing aids when you woke up this morning. Well, perhaps you did if you’ve been dealing with your hearing loss for a while.
So here are the top ten advantages of wearing hearing aids.
1. Your relationships will improve
Strong communication is critical to any good relationship. But communication can be difficult when you have untreated hearing loss. With hearing aids, you’ll finally hear more than little bits of conversation. You’ll be able to keep up with the conversation and get the entire story.
You won’t be resentful and feel left out of conversations. So you will have an improvement in your relationships with family members, friends, and coworkers. There is a strong connection between relationships and hearing aids!
2. You’ll be more independent
Shopping at the grocery store or going to a restaurant when you’re dealing with neglected hearing loss can be an ordeal. Trying to communicate with wait staff and cashiers can be challenging when you can’t hear very well. But the overall process gets easier when you use hearing aids. You can navigate much more independently.
You’ll also be better able to drive safely. That’s because your general situational awareness will be enhanced by your hearing aids. When you hear more of the world, you’ll be able to do more on your own, and you’ll be able to do it with less anxiety.
3. Better hearing could result in higher income
Consider this hypothetical situation: if you’re losing large portions of what’s being talked about during meetings at work, your work performance will suffer. This can lead to diminished job opportunities and being passed-up for promotions.
When you’re wearing properly tuned hearing aids, you will be less exhausted from struggling to hear, and keeping up with those meetings will be much easier. By doing this you can have a chance to raise your income by improving your ability to focus on work.
4. Your tinnitus symptoms will decrease
Tinnitus is that buzzing or ringing in the ear that the majority of us have experienced occasionally. When you suffer from hearing loss, tinnitus can often be felt much more powerfully (there are a host of reasons for this, sometimes the tinnitus is only relatively noisier because everything else is so quiet, for example).
Many individuals report that their tinnitus symptoms decrease when they use a hearing aid. In these cases, that’s because the hearing aid is drowning out the sound of the tinnitus. But relief is relief.
5. Less chance of developing dementia
Hearing loss and cognitive issues are firmly connected. Your chance of developing dementia can be seriously increased by disregarding hearing loss, for example. There are numerous hypotheses about why this might be, but the bottom line is that managing your hearing loss appears to help! That’s why it’s important to make sure you wear your hearing aids. You may be giving your brain a greater chance of remaining healthy longer.
6. You can enjoy music again
When you suffer from hearing loss music is more difficult to hear clearly. That’s because one frequency of sound typically goes before the others. For example, you may be unable to pick up low frequencies. The music you used to like, as a result, may sound… different.
With your hearing aids, though, those missing gaps in the music will be filled in, and you can appreciate music again! You’ll get the high notes and the low notes, instead of just one or the other (or a garbled mess). Hearing your favorite band again can be incredibly enjoyable.
7. Your confidence will improve
Your confidence will be enhanced when you can hear better and have more successful interactions. And confidence is a wonderful thing.
We’re not implying that you shouldn’t have confidence just because you have hearing loss. We’re simply saying that you may find yourself having a difficult time interacting with others, particularly if your hearing loss is new.
Those connections can become easier again with hearing aids. And when that happens, confidence will improve.
8. You’ll have more energy
If your hearing impairment has been gradually advancing, your brain has probably been working overtime. The audio gaps that your hearing loss is producing will try to be filled in by your brain because it doesn’t understand that your ears aren’t working. That’s hard work. And so, your brain is under persistent strain.
Your brain gets to refresh and relax when you use a hearing aid. It won’t need to work so hard. With this, continuous tiredness and weariness will be lessened. You’ll enjoy doing the things that are stimulating for you with this increased energy.
9. Being more conscious of your surroundings will keep you safer
You may not have adjusted to your hearing loss, especially if it’s new. Normally, you would hear approaching traffic before you step out into the street. You’re accustomed to hearing the emergency siren before you look in the rearview mirror.
You may presume certain situations are safe when, because you’re unaware of your hearing loss, or you’ve disregarded it, they actually aren’t. That can put you in some very unsafe scenarios.
Hearing aids will help regain that lost awareness. So you’ll be able to make smarter, less dangerous decisions.
10. You will set a good example!
The one thing that can be even more difficult than change is personal growth. When you get a hearing aid, you’re acknowledging that something isn’t necessarily working properly anymore. But you’re also trying to improve the situation.
That’s a good thing! It’s the sort of thing we should all strive for! So you’re becoming a role model and a positive example when you wear your hearing aids. (It’s okay, you can blush a bit, you deserve it.)
Schedule an appointment for a hearing assessment right away
When you wear hearing aids you will hear better and that’s the biggest benefit. That one’s obvious. But as you know, there are lots of immediate benefits of hearing aids! This top ten list is just that, one little list of only ten of these benefits.
You might have a totally different top ten list. Making an appointment with us for a hearing test is the first step no matter what advantages you look forward to.