Hearing loss can seriously impact how you live, even when it’s mild. The way you connect with friends, coworkers, and loved ones can change drastically. Everyday activities like going to the supermarket can become more challenging. But that doesn’t mean it has to be all doom and gloom. On the contrary, a well adjusted set of hearing aids can make a huge difference.
Most people normally think of those benefits in a very linear sort of way: Hearing aids help you hear better. And that’s not untrue. But how do hearing aids improve quality of life? What further benefits will hearing aids create?
The top ten reasons to get hearing aids
We humans just love making top ten lists. I bet you didn’t think you would be reading a top ten list about hearing aids when you woke up this morning. Well, maybe you did if you’ve been dealing with your hearing loss for a while.
So, what are the top ten advantages associated with using your hearing aid? Here they are!
1. Your relationships will improve
Great communication is critical to any great relationship. But communication can be problematic when you have untreated hearing loss. With hearing aids, you’ll finally hear more than little bits of conversation. You’ll be able to keep up with the conversation and get the entire story.
This also means you won’t feel excluded from the conversation, and you won’t feel resentful that the conversations go on without you. So your general relationships, amongst your friends, co-workers, and loved ones, will improve. There is a strong link between relationships and hearing aids!
2. You’ll be more independent
Shopping at the grocery store or going to a restaurant when you’re dealing with neglected hearing loss can be an ordeal. When you can’t hear all that well, communicating with cashiers and wait staff can be difficult. But the whole process becomes easier when you use hearing aids. You can get around a lot more independently.
You’ll also be in a better position to drive safely. That’s because your hearing aids will enhance your total situational awareness (more on that later). You will be less anxious about doing things without help when you can hear the world more clearly.
3. You might make more money
Let’s toss out a hypothetical: if you’re losing large parts of what’s being talked about during meetings at work, your work performance will suffer. This can result in diminished 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 keeping up with those meetings will be a lot easier. This can boost your focus on work and put you in a stronger position to grow your income.
4. You’ll have decreased tinnitus symptoms
Tinnitus is that buzzing or ringing in the ear that the majority of us have experienced now and then. Tinnitus symptoms will frequently be more extreme and more often with hearing loss (tinnitus is sometimes louder with hearing loss simply because everything else is quieter, but there could also be other reasons too).
Many people observe that their tinnitus symptoms ease up when they wear a hearing aid. The louder overall external sound supplied by the hearing aid may be, in some cases, just drowning out the tinnitus symptoms. But relief is relief.
5. Less chance of developing dementia
There is a firm link between mental decline and hearing loss. For instance, neglected hearing loss can significantly raise your chance of developing dementia. Treating hearing loss appears to be helpful, even though there are numerous theories as to why. That’s why it’s not a good idea to forget to wear your hearing aid. You could be helping your brain health!
6. Music can once again be appreciated
When you suffer from hearing loss music is more difficult to hear clearly. That’s because hearing loss tends to effect one wavelength of sound first, then another. For example, you may be unable to pick up low frequencies. As a result, the song you used to enjoy might just sound… weird.
With your hearing aids, however, those missing holes in the music will be filled in, and you can enjoy music again! You’ll hear all of the frequencies and your music won’t sound so muffled. It can be a great relief to hear your favorite tune again.
7. Your confidence will improve
Your confidence will be enhanced when you can hear better and have more effective interactions. And confidence is a great thing.
We’re not implying that you shouldn’t be confident just because you deal with hearing loss. It’s just that, particularly if that hearing loss is recent, you may suddenly find it challenging to interact with people in the same ways you usually do.
Those connections can become easier again when you use hearing aids. And that can lead to a boost in confidence.
8. Your vitality will be increased
Your brain is probably working extra hard if your hearing loss is gradually advancing. The audio holes that your hearing loss is producing will try to be filled in by your brain because it doesn’t understand that your ears aren’t functioning. That’s… a lot of work! And so, your brain is under continual strain.
When you invest in a hearing aid, you’re giving your brain an opportunity to relax and recharge. It won’t need to work so hard. Which means you won’t feel so consistently tired and depleted. You’ll have more energy to do the things you love to do!
9. You’ll be safer and more perceptive of your environment
If your hearing loss is new, you might not yet have fully adapted. You’re used to hearing traffic before you step out into the road. Before you look up into your rearview mirror, you would normally hear the oncoming sirens.
If your hearing loss is new, or you aren’t aware of it, you might assume that some scenarios are safe when they really aren’t. That can put you in some very unsafe situations.
Hearing aids will help regain that lost awareness. Your decision making will be smarter and less hazardous.
10. You’ll be a positive example!
The one thing that can be even more challenging than change is personal growth. You’re admitting that things aren’t functioning properly now when you get a hearing aid. But you’re also trying to improve the situation.
There’s nothing wrong with that! We should all strive for this type of thing, right? So you’re becoming a role model and a positive example when you use your hearing aids. (It’s okay, you can blush a bit, you deserve it.)
Have your hearing checked today
The primary benefit of hearing aids is that you get to enjoy hearing better. That one’s obvious. But as you can tell, there are boatloads of immediate advantages of hearing aids! This top ten list is by no means complete.
Your top ten list might look a little different. No matter what benefits you look forward to the most, the first step is scheduling an appointment with us to have your hearing tested.