The Negative Effects of Ignoring Hearing Loss

Loss of hearing is a normal part of getting older, unfortunately. Approximately 38 million people suffer from some kind of hearing loss in the United States, but because hearing loss is expected as we get older, many people choose to ignore it. Ignoring hearing loss, however, can have severe negative side effects on a person’s entire health beyond their inability to hear.

Why do many people decide to simply live with hearing loss? According to an AARP study, more than one-third of senior citizens consider hearing loss to be a minor problem that can be handled easily enough, while more than half of the participants cited cost as a concern. When you consider the conditions and significant side effects caused by neglecting hearing loss, however, the costs can rise dramatically. Ignoring hearing loss has the following negative side effects.

Tiredness

Most people will not immediately connect the dots from fatigue to hearing loss. Alternatively, they will connect exhaustion to several different factors, like slowing down due to getting older or a side-effect of medication. The fact is that the less you are able to hear, the more your body works to make up for it, leaving you feeling tired. Imagine you are taking a test such as the SAT where your brain is completely concentrated on processing the task at hand. After you’re done, you most likely feel exhausted. When you struggle to hear, the same thing happens: your brain is working to fill in the blanks you’re missing in conversations – and when there is a lot of background sound this is even more overwhelming – and burns valuable energy just trying to digest the discussion. This type of persistent exhaustion can affect your health by leaving you too tired to take care of yourself, leaving things like going to the gym or cooking healthy meals difficult to accomplish.

Mental Decline

Johns Hopkins University conducted a study that linked hearing loss to , accelerated brain tissue loss, and dementia. Although these links are not direct causations, they are correlations, researchers think the more the blanks need to be filled in by the brain, the more the cognitive resources needed and the less the resources available for other things like comprehension and memory. And as people age, the increased draw on cognitive resources can speed up the decline of other brain functions and contribute to gray matter loss. Additionally, having a regular exchange of information and ideas, often through conversation, is believed to help senior citizens stay mentally tuned and can help delay the process of cognitive decline. The future for researchers is encouraging due to the discovery of a link between the decline in cognitive function and loss of hearing, since the causes of these ailments can be pinpointed and treatments can be formulated when hearing and cognitive specialist team up.

Issues With Your Mental Health

The National Council on the Aging conducted a study of 2,300 seniors who suffered some form of hearing loss and discovered that paranoia, anxiety, and depression negatively affected the emotional health more often than those who don't have hearing loss. Since problems communicating with others in family and social situations is typical for those with hearing loss, the link between mental health problems and hearing loss seems logical. This can bring on depression after suffering from persistent feelings of loneliness. If neglected, anxiety and even paranoia can appear due to these feelings of isolation and exclusion. Hearing aids have been proven to assist in the recovery from depression, though anyone who has depression, anxiety, or paranoia should seek advice from with a mental health professional.

Heart Disease

All the different parts of our bodies are one interconnected machine – an apparently unconnected part can be affected negatively if a different part stops working as it is supposed to. This is the situation with our hearts and ears. Case in point, hearing loss will take place when blood doesn't flow easily from the heart to the inner ear. Diabetes, which is also connected to heart disease, can impact the inner ear’s nerve endings and scramble messages from the ear to the brain. Those who have noticed some level of hearing loss and who have a history of heart disease or diabetes in their families should seek advice from both a hearing and cardiac specialist to find out whether the hearing loss is indeed caused by a heart condition, since neglecting the symptoms could lead to serious, potentially fatal consequences.

Please get in touch with us if you are experiencing any of the negative effects outlined above or if you have hearing loss so we can help you live a healthier life. Schedule your appointment now.