Amidst hectic schedules and the disruptions of events, it’s all too easy to put off important appointments, like those with a hearing specialist or for fitting hearing aids. You may even find yourself hesitating to get hearing aids altogether. But hearing loss impacts more than just your ears and holding off on treatment can have detrimental effects on your whole life.
Untreated hearing loss can lead to a greater risk of mental decline
A clear connection between mental decline and neglected hearing loss has been established by scientists and researchers. This underscores the critical importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have adverse effects on your brain function also.
Hearing loss will get worse if it goes untreated
Naturally, it’s evident that putting off treatment for hearing loss isn’t helpful for maintaining your auditory health. You unintentionally cause more damage to your hearing if you put off on getting a hearing exam or hearing aids if you need them.
You may find yourself continually increasing the volume on your various devices, worsening the damage to your ears and speeding up the progression of hearing loss. Hearing aids can boost specific frequencies of sound thereby delaying the development of hearing loss.
The connection between neglected hearing loss and cognitive function
There’s a close link between your sense of hearing and your brain. Mental function can be seriously impacted by untreated hearing loss according to some significant research. Over time, cognitive decline can be exacerbated by depression and anxiety caused by social separation.
Moreover, long-term untreated hearing loss prompts the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from processing sound to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the recovery of healthy hearing function later on.
Navigating neuroplasticity
The brain’s amazing ability to adapt, known as neuroplasticity, is both a friend and a foe in this scenario. The brain will have a hard time reverting back to its previous state after it rewires itself to accommodate for sustained neglected hearing loss.
However, it’s not impossible to reverse these effects. In both the short and the long term, making use of hearing aids can bring considerable 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 possible, but even if you’ve put off for a while, it’s not too late to seek help. If you’re ready to enjoy improved hearing and stronger mental function, call us today for an assessment!
