Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Your Hearing Loss

Have you ever attempted to ignore a toothache? They can be rather tough. At some point, you’re unquestionably begging to go to the dentist.

The same thing takes place when your eyesight begins to blur. You’ll probably call an ophthalmologist when you begin to have trouble reading street signs.

But the problem is, when your hearing begins to go you might not show such urgency.

Untreated hearing loss can be responsible for significant health problems (specifically mental health problems). Naturally, you can only ignore your diminishing hearing if you’re actually aware of it. And there’s the second problem.

Signs you might be experiencing hearing loss

We typically don’t appreciate our hearing. A high volume music festival? No worry. Blaring ear pods? You like to listen to your podcasts like this. But your overall hearing will be substantially affected by each of these decisions, particularly in the long run.

It can, regrettably, be hard to detect these impacts. Hearing loss can sneak up on you gradually, with symptoms that advance so slowly as to be essentially invisible. 

That’s why it’s important to be familiar with some primary red flags (and to deal with them sooner than later):

• Your short term memory tends to suddenly fail occasionally
• You have an especially difficult time making out consonants when listening to everyday speech
• It’s difficult to understand conversations in noisy or crowded environments
• You have a hard time falling asleep at night and feel tired for no apparent reason
• Voices of those around you (family, co-workers, friends) sounds dull or distorted
• You always need to turn up the volume on your devices
• You frequently have to ask people to repeat themselves

If your hearing loss comes on especially slowly, your brain will instantly begin to compensate for it, making you somewhat unaware, at first, to your symptoms. 

That is the reason why all of these warning signs should be taken seriously.

What happens if you ignore your hearing loss?

Your relationships could be negatively affected: When you have a difficult time comprehending what your friends and relatives are saying, something can change in the relationship: you start having fewer conversations with them. You quit saying hi, you quit checking in, you pull away. Some of those relationships will be damaged, particularly if the issue is hearing loss that you have kept secret (and not some unexpressed bitterness).

You could cause your hearing to get worse: If you don’t use hearing aids or increased hearing protection, you’ll keep cranking the volume on your television up. Or you’ll keep going to rock concerts without any earplugs. And your hearing will keep declining as you continue to do damage to your ears.

Depression and cognitive decline: You may start to discover symptoms of depression as your relationships are affected and socialising gets more challenging. You might also start to go through some mental decline without the auditory activation your brain is used to, your neural physiology starts to experience specific changes. This can lead to long term cognitive problems if your hearing loss isn’t dealt with.

Audiologist Advice:

If you suspect you might have hearing loss, don’t ignore it. The longer you leave it, the worse it gets.

Don’t suffer in silence. Book an appointment for an Initial Assessment at Worcester & Stratford Hearing Centres and find out how we can help you on your journey to better hearing.