Hearing aids could help around 28 million people. Of course, when we talk about statistics like that, we generally mean that those 28 million people would hear their surroundings a little more clearly if they had some help (like hearing aids). But your hearing aids will also help you take advantage of some other health advantages.
Your mental and physical health can, as it so happens, be improved by something as easy as wearing hearing aids. Everything from depression to a risk of falling can be delayed or even stopped by these devices. In many ways, your hearing aids can help you stay on your feet.
Hearing Aids And Mental Health Advantages
Modern medical studies have firmly demonstrated a connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline. Mental illnesses such as depression, cognitive decline, anxiety, and dementia, in line with current thinking, can be triggered by hearing loss as a consequence of a mix of mental, physical and social factors.
So the mental health advantages of hearing aids shouldn’t be all that unexpected.
Decreasing Your Chances of Dementia
Your chances of dementia can be decreased, as reported by one study, by nearly 20%. That’s a fantastic advantage when all 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 conducted to duplicate and clarify these figures, we can come a long way in the fight against cognitive decline and illness.
Depression And Anxiety Can be Decreased
Depression and anxiety aren’t symptoms that are unique to individuals who have hearing loss. But individuals who suffer from hearing loss have been shown to have a higher risk of depression and anxiety over time.
Wearing your hearing aids can help you stay socially involved and mentally connected. Hearing aids can be particularly helpful if those factors are contributing to depression and anxiety.
You Won’t be as Lonely
While dementia might sound much more severe, for individuals who have untreated hearing loss, isolation can be a serious problem, social solitude often being the cause and adding fuel to the fire. That social isolation can cause considerable changes to your mood. So being able to continue to be social and connected with help from your hearing aid can be a big benefit.
To be sure, this is connected to your hearing aids’ ability to decrease the risks of depression, for instance. To a certain extent, all of these health conditions connect in some manner.
The Physical Advantages of Hearing Aids
There is some evidence which indicates that as hearing loss symptoms become more obvious, your risk of stroke escalates. But that specific research is definitely on the preliminary side. It’s a little simpler to recognize the more obvious physical advantage of hearing aids: you’ll fall less often.
This happens for two reasons:
- Situational awareness: This means you’ll be more capable of avoiding obstacles that could cause a fall.
- Fall detection: In some cases, it’s not the fall that’s hazardous. Rather, it’s your inability to get back up that can be a real problem. Fall detection is a standard feature of many newer hearing aid models. You can save emergency phone numbers into your phone which will automatically be called if you take a tumble.
As you grow older falling down can have a devastating effect on your health. So your overall health can be safeguarded by reducing damage from falls or preventing them entirely.
Make Sure You Wear Your Hearing Aids
It’s worth noting that all of these advantages apply to those who have hearing conditions. Hearing aids won’t, for example, help someone with healthy hearing avoid a fall.
But if you do suffer from hearing loss, the best thing you can do for your ears, and for the rest of your body, is to use your hearing aids.