Amidst hectic schedules and the distractions of events, it’s all too easy to put off important appointments, such as those with a hearing specialist or for a hearing aid fitting. You may even find yourself hesitating to order hearing aids altogether. But hearing loss impacts more than just your ears and delaying treatment can have detrimental effects on your entire life.
Untreated hearing loss can lead to a greater risk of cognitive decline
A clear connection between cognitive decline and untreated hearing loss has been established by scientists and researchers. This is one reason why delaying treatment is never a good plan.
Hearing loss will worsen if it goes untreated
If you care about the health of your hearing, it’s essential to never disregard any symptoms of hearing loss. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or delaying the purchase of hearing aids, you unintentionally subject your ears to additional damage.
You may find yourself constantly boosting the volume on your various devices, exacerbating the damage to your ears and accelerating the development of hearing loss. Hearing aids can amplify particular frequencies of sound thereby delaying the advancement of hearing loss.
The link between untreated hearing loss and cognitive function
There’s a direct connection between your sense of hearing and your brain. Cognitive function can be seriously impacted by neglected hearing loss according to some significant research. Social isolation, frequently a consequence of weakened hearing, can lead to mental health problems including depression and anxiety, which in turn can exacerbate mental decline over time.
Also, the recovery of normal hearing function can be complicated because neglected hearing loss will force the brain to adapt by reallocating mental resources from other functions, such as visual processes, over to auditory processes.
Navigating neuroplasticity
The brain’s amazing ability to adapt, known as neuroplasticity, is both a friend and a foe in this situation. While it allows for flexibility and restoration, prolonged untreated hearing loss can result in significant rewiring of the brain, making it challenging to return to previous functionality.
But it is possible to reverse this effect. In both the short and the long term, using hearing aids can bring significant benefits even if you’ve held off on getting treatment for some time.
Call us for an appointment
You should obviously seek treatment as soon as you can, but even if you’ve delayed for a while, it’s not too late to get help. Scheduling an appointment with us as soon as you can is important, ensuring you can enjoy better hearing and mental function moving forward. Call today!
