Putting off on important appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amidst the hustle and bustle of day-to-day events. You might not even get around to shopping for hearing aids whatsoever. But hearing loss affects more than just your ears and holding off on treatment can have negative effects on your whole life.
Neglected hearing loss can lead to a higher risk of mental decline
Scientists have demonstrated a clear link between neglected hearing loss and mental decline. This underscores the critical importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have adverse effects on your mental function also.
Hearing loss will get worse if it’s neglected
If you care about your hearing health, it’s essential to never ignore any symptoms of hearing loss. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or holding off on the purchase of hearing aids, you inadvertently subject your ears to additional damage.
The development of your hearing loss will be quickened if you constantly need to crank up the volume on your devices. Hearing aids can amplify specific frequencies of sound thereby slowing down the advancement of hearing loss.
The connection to mental function
There’s a close connection between your sense of hearing and your brain. Research shows that untreated hearing loss can have considerable repercussions on cognitive function. Over time, cognitive decline can be worsened by depression and anxiety brought on by social isolation.
Furthermore, long-term neglected hearing loss causes 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
In this scenario, neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, can be both a friend and a foe. The brain will have a difficult time reverting back to its previous state after it rewires itself to accommodate for sustained neglected hearing loss.
But it is possible to undo this effect. In both the short and the long term, making use of hearing aids can bring significant benefits even if you’ve put off on getting treatment for some time.
Give us a call for an appointment
While timely treatment is ideal, it’s never too late to address hearing loss. Scheduling an appointment with us as soon as you can is important, ensuring you can enjoy improved hearing and cognitive function moving forward. Call today!
