D’Anne Rudden
When you’re making your list of New Year’s resolutions, be sure to put your hearing health near the top. Why? Research shows that when you address hearing loss, it im-proves your quality of life in many ways. Ignoring hearing loss and leaving it untreated may lead to these negative effects:
Brain Atrophy: Many people do not realize that hearing is actually a brain function. Your ears collect the sound, but it’s your brain that processes random noises into recognizable sounds. When you have hearing loss, your brain reassigns the part of your brain previously devoted to hearing to other senses, such as vision and touch.
Risk of Falls: Untreated hearing loss affects the vestibular system and may lead to an increased risk of falling. Even a mild case of hearing loss triples the risk of an accidental fall, and risk increases by 140% for every 10 decibels of hearing loss.
Emotional Health: Your emotional health is at risk when you neglect your hearing health. A study by the National Council on Aging reported that in hearing impaired adults over the age of 50, those with untreated hearing loss were more likely to report depression, anxiety and paranoia, and less likely to participate in organized social activities than those with hearing aids. So how can you avoid these pitfalls? The first step is to determine if you have hearing loss. Once that is established, discuss your options for appropriate treatment, which may or may not include hearing aids.
Dr. D’Anne Rudden is a Doctor of Audiology, board certified by the American Board of Audiology and has been in practice for over 25 years. She is published in many industry journals, and she travels nationally as a featured speaker and expert in Audiology. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter for the latest hearing healthcare news!