Hearing aids could help about 28 million people. Naturally, when we discuss statistics like that, we generally mean that those 28 million individuals would hear their surroundings a little better if they had some help (like hearing aids). But there are also a number of other, relatively surprising health benefits that you can begin to take advantage of thanks to your hearing aids.
It turns out that something as simple as wearing your hearing aids could be good for your physical and mental health. These little gadgets can help prevent (or forestall) everything from injury from a fall to depression. Your hearing aids can literally keep you on your feet.
Hearing Aids And Mental Health Benefits
Modern medical research has firmly established a link between hearing loss and cognitive decline. Mental illnesses like dementia, cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression, in line with current thinking, can be triggered by hearing loss due to a mix of mental, physical and social factors.
So the mental health benefits of hearing aids shouldn’t be very surprising.
Dementia Risks Reduced
Your chances of dementia can be reduced, based on one study, by almost 20%. That’s a wonderful advantage when the only thing you have to do is remember to wear your hearing aids each day.
In other studies, the arrival of dementia was slowed by as much as two years by wearing hearing aids. This is really encouraging and with more research done to duplicate and clarify these figures, we can come a long way in the fight against mental decline and illness.
Decrease Depression And Anxiety
Anxiety and depression are not symptoms that are exclusive to people who have hearing loss. But individuals with hearing loss have been shown to have a higher risk of anxiety and depression over time.
When you use hearing aids, you tend to stay more mentally focused and engaged socially. If those were contributing factors to anxiety and depression, they can help.
You Won’t Feel as Lonely
While it might not sound as serious or important as dementia, isolation can be a big issue for people with neglected hearing loss, caused by and exacerbating a sense of social isolation. Your general mood can be dramatically affected by social separation. So it can be a huge benefit if your hearing aids can help you stay socially involved.
To be certain, this ties together with your hearing aids’ ability to decrease the risks of depression, for instance. All of these health problems, to some extent, are in some manner linked.
Hearing Aids And Physical Benefits
There’s some data which suggests that as hearing loss symptoms become more apparent, your danger of stroke goes up. But that particular research is obviously on the preliminary side. It’s a little simpler to recognize the more obvious physical advantage of hearing aids: you won’t fall as much.
There are a couple of explanations for this:
- Situational awareness: Hearing aids can improve your situational awareness. If your pet, for example, is zooming out to greet you, you will be able to hear them coming and will be prepared for them to be running under your feet.
- Fall detection: Many times, it’s getting back up after a fall that is the real danger, not the fall itself. Many new models of hearing aids come with fall detection built in. You can program emergency phone numbers into your phone which will be automatically called if you take a tumble.
As you age falling down can have a devastating effect on your health. So your overall health can be protected by reducing damage from falls or avoiding them entirely.
Wear Your Hearing Aids Everyday
It’s worth keeping in mind that all of these benefits apply to those who suffer from hearing conditions. If you have healthy hearing, then wearing a hearing aid will likely not decrease your risk of cognitive decline, for example.
But wearing your hearing aids, if you do have hearing loss, is the smartest thing you can do for general health.
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