You know what it’s like to try to ignore a toothache? They can be rather rough. Before long, you end up having no alternative but to consult a dentist. And when your eyesight starts to blur it’s the same. When you have difficulties reading street signs, you’ll likely make a consultation with an ophthalmologist. But the problem is, when your hearing begins to go you may not have as much urgency.
And that could be an oversight. Untreated hearing loss can be responsible for considerable health issues (particularly mental problems). Unfortunately, it’s pretty difficult to address your diminishing hearing if you don’t know about it. And there’s the second problem.
Indications You Could Have Hearing Loss
We tend to take our hearing for granted. A loud concert? No worry. Blaring ear pods? That’s just how you prefer your podcasts. But your overall hearing will be considerably impacted by every one of these choices, particularly over time.
It can, unfortunately, be difficult to notice these impacts. Hearing loss can sneak up on you incrementally, with symptoms that progress so gradually as to be effectively invisible. So you should take some time to educate yourself on some primary red flags (and to deal with them sooner than later):
- You feel an inexplicable sense of exhaustion or have significant trouble falling asleep at night
- You continually blow the speakers in your earpods because you have the volume up too loud
- Distorted or dull sounding speech from individuals around you (family, co-workers, friends)
- When you’re in a crowded noisy setting you have a tough time following conversations
- You usually need to turn up the volume on your devices
- When you listen to casual speech, you have an especially difficult time making out consonants
- You find yourself asking people around you to repeat what they said quite often
- You notice unexpected problems with short term memory
These signs, red flags, or warnings are all pretty well recognized. If your hearing loss comes on especially gradually, your brain will immediately begin to compensate for any hearing loss that develops, making you rather unaware, at first, to your symptoms. That’s the reason why any of these warning signs should be taken seriously, which means you need to schedule an appointment to see your hearing specialist.
What Happens if You Neglect Your Hearing Loss?
Some people are, certainly, obstinate. Or the idea of wearing hearing aids is simply too unwelcome. They have this fear that wearing a hearing aid is some kind of direct sign for old age (as if continuously asking someone to speak up is a sign of everlasting youth). But in reality, most modern hearing aids are practically undetectable (and it’s helpful when you can hear and participate in conversations).
Nevertheless, it’s worth discussing what could take place if you ignore your hearing loss:
- Your hearing could worsen: If you don’t use hearing aids or increased hearing protection, You’ll continue to turn up your devices. Or you’ll keep intending to rock shows without any earplugs. Which means you’ll keep doing harm to your ears and your hearing will almost certainly continue to decline because of it.
- Your relationships could fray: There’s something that takes place when you have a hard time comprehending your friends and relatives: you stop talking to them. You stop saying hi, you stop checking in, you pull away. Some of those relationships will be ruined, particularly if no one has any clue that the underlying cause is loss of hearing (and not some unexpressed bitterness).
- Depression and cognitive decline could result: You may begin to notice symptoms of depression as your relationships falter and going out becomes harder. You may also start to experience some mental decline if your brain doesn’t get the auditory stimulation that it’s used to, your neural physiology begins to experience certain changes. This can lead to long term cognitive challenges if your hearing loss isn’t treated.
Don’t Neglect Your Hearing Loss
Later on, clearly, bigger and more significant issues can be caused by hearing loss. But the opposite is true: acknowledging and treating your hearing loss can improve your quality of life significantly. Your every day life is more full and your relationships get better when you start to hear better. And improving your awareness, either by seeing a hearing specialist or downloading a noise-monitoring app, can improve your complete hearing health.
You absolutely shouldn’t neglect the health concern of hearing loss. A happier life begins when you find the proper treatment. Don’t wait until the proverbial toothache gets too painful to ignore.