Even when it’s relatively minor, hearing loss can have a big impact on your life. The way you interact with friends, coworkers, and loved ones can change significantly. It can become a challenge to accomplish day-to-day tasks such as going shopping. But it doesn’t have to have this kind of negative impact on you. Quite the opposite, a well adjusted pair of hearing aids can make a huge difference.
Hearing aids improve your ability to hear, and that’s typically how most people think of them. And that’s not untrue. But how do hearing aids improve quality of life? What further advantages will hearing aids create?
The top ten reasons to invest in hearing aids
It’s sort of fascinating, isn’t it, how people can so often come up with top ten lists for anything? When you woke up today, did you think you’d be reading a top ten list about hearing aids? I mean, if you’ve known about your hearing loss for a while… perhaps you did!
So here are the top ten advantages of wearing hearing aids.
1. Your relationships will improve
Strong communication is critical to any good relationship. But when you have neglected hearing loss, communication can be challenging. With hearing aids, you’ll finally hear more than little bits of conversation. You’ll hear everything, you’ll get the full story, and you’ll be capable of keeping up with the conversation.
This also means you won’t feel excluded from the conversation, and you won’t feel resentful that the conversations continue without you. So your general relationships, amongst your friends, co-workers, and family members, will improve. The link between hearing aids and relationships is a strong one!
2. You’ll be more independent
When you’re dealing with untreated hearing loss, tasks like shopping or dining out can be a real ordeal. When you’re unable to hear all that well, communicating with cashiers and wait staff can be challenging. But with a set of hearing aids, the entire process suddenly becomes much easier. You can navigate a lot more independently.
Driving will also be safer. That’s because your hearing aids will enhance your overall situational awareness (more on that later). You won’t be as anxious about doing things by yourself when you can hear the world more clearly.
3. Better hearing may lead to higher income
Let’s toss out a hypothetical: if you’re in a meeting at work and miss a lot of what’s discussed, you may not do your job adequately. This can lead to reduced job opportunities and being passed-up for promotions.
When you’re wearing precisely tuned hearing aids, you will be less fatigued from straining to hear, and following along with those meetings will be much easier. This can improve your focus on work and put you in a better position to increase your income.
4. Your tinnitus symptoms will lessen
Tinnitus is that ringing or buzzing in the ear that most of us have experienced occasionally. When you suffer from hearing loss, tinnitus can often be experienced much more powerfully (tinnitus is sometimes more noticeable with hearing loss simply because everything else is quieter, but there could also be other reasons too).
With a hearing aid, many people observe that they experience reduced tinnitus symptoms. In these cases, that’s because the hearing aid is drowning out the sound of the tinnitus. But relief is relief.
5. Less chance of developing dementia
There is a solid link between cognitive decline and hearing impairment. For instance, untreated hearing loss can seriously elevate your risk of developing dementia. There are numerous theories about why this might be, but the end result is that managing your hearing loss seems to help! That’s why it isn’t a good idea to forget to put in your hearing aid. You could be helping your brain health!
6. Music can once again be appreciated
When you have hearing loss music is harder to hear clearly. That’s because one frequency of sound usually goes before the others. For example, you might be unable to pick up low frequencies. The music you used to like, consequently, might sound… different.
You will be able to enjoy music again with your hearing aids filling in the missing sound. You’ll hear all of the wavelengths and your music won’t sound so muffled. It can be an amazing relief to hear your favorite tune again.
7. Your confidence will grow
Your confidence will be boosted when you can hear better and have more effective interactions. And confidence is a wonderful thing.
This is not to say that hearing impairment should rob you of your confidence. It’s just that, particularly if that hearing loss is new, you could suddenly find it challenging to interact with others in the same ways you usually do.
A hearing aid can make those connections easier again. And that can lead to improved confidence.
8. You’ll have more energy
Your brain is probably working extra hard if your hearing loss is slowly progressing. The audio gaps that your hearing loss is creating will try to be filled in by your brain because it doesn’t recognize that your ears aren’t functioning. That’s… a lot of work! And so, your brain is under constant strain.
Your brain gets to recharge and relax when you use a hearing aid. It won’t have to work as hard. With this, continuous tiredness and weariness will be reduced. You’ll have more vitality to do the things you enjoy doing!
9. Being more mindful of your surroundings will keep you safer
If your hearing loss is recent, you may not yet have entirely adapted. Usually, you would hear approaching traffic before you step out into the road. You’re used to hearing the emergency siren before you look in the rearview mirror.
If your hearing loss is recent, or you aren’t conscious of it, you may presume that some scenarios are safe when they really aren’t. That can put you in some very dangerous situations.
This lost awareness will be recovered by using hearing aids. Your decision making will be wiser and safer.
10. You will set a good example!
The one thing that can be even more challenging than change is personal growth. You’re acknowledging that things aren’t working effectively now when you get a hearing aid. But you’re also attempting to improve the situation.
There’s nothing wrong with that! It’s the kind of thing we should all strive for! So when you pop in your hearing aids, you’re setting yourself up as a positive example and role model. (It’s okay, you can blush a bit, you deserve it.)
Schedule an appointment for a hearing test right away
When you wear hearing aids you will hear better and that’s the principal advantage. That goes without saying. But as you know, there are tons of immediate advantages of hearing aids! This top ten list is by no means exhaustive.
You might have a completely different top ten list. No matter what benefits you look forward to the most, the first step is making an appointment with us to have your hearing tested.