If you’re not treating your symptoms correctly, hearing loss can put you in the hospital. I know that seems like an exaggeration. We’re used to thinking of hearing loss as little more than an inconvenience – something that makes the news a bit tougher to hear or, at worst, makes you unknowingly agree to something you didn’t mean.
But current research is ringing alarm bells about the long-term health effects of untreated hearing loss.
What Does Hearing Loss Have to do With Your Health?
At first sight, hearing loss doesn’t appear to have that much to do with other health concerns. But research carried out by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reveals that untreated hearing loss can result in a 50% increase in hospital visits over time. The chance of serious health issues goes up the longer hearing loss remains untreated.
That seems like a strange finding: what does hearing have to do with your overall health? That question can have a complicated answer.
Hearing Health And Mental Health
Untreated hearing loss has been linked to numerous other health concerns, like:
- Higher instance of anxiety and depression. Simply put, neglected hearing loss can increase depression and anxiety, which will then have a powerfully negative effect on your physical body, to say nothing of your mental health.
- Loss of balance. Hearing loss can make it harder to keep your balance and maintain situational focus.
- You start to lose your memory. In fact, your odds of getting dementia double with neglected hearing loss.
Hearing Aids: An effective Solution
There’s some good news though. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School research reveals that up to 75% of the mental decline linked to hearing loss can be stopped in its tracks by one basic solution: wearing a hearing aid.
The health hazards linked to hearing loss can be significantly mitigated by using hearing aids. The following improvements were noted in individuals who used hearing aids for as little as two weeks:
- Improvements in awareness and balance.
- Improvements in brain function.
- Severe brain injury reductions.
The researchers from Johns Hopkins studied data from 77,000 patients collected over roughly twenty years. And a critical part of maintaining your health lies in protecting your hearing which is a surprising conclusion. Taking care of your hearing health also benefits your financial well-being, because being sick costs money.
Preserving Your Hearing And Your Health
Hearing loss is a perfectly normal part of getting older, though it’s not exclusive to getting older. Hearing loss can develop at any age due to occupational hazards, accidents, or diseases.
However or whenever you lose your hearing, it’s extremely important to deal with it. Otherwise, your health could be negatively impacted.