Over the years, hearing aids have carried a stigma. Some people just associate them with old age. What is the consequence?
Many people, both old and young, go without hearing aids and suffer needlessly from hearing loss, which is actually connected to several health concerns. The numbers reinforce this: 30 million people in the US dealing with hearing loss, yet only about 15 percent of that group has ever used a hearing aid.
At the same time, more and more young people are dealing with hearing loss: a WHO report from 2015 forecasted that too much use of headphones and overly loud music shows and festivals will cause over 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults to permanently damage their hearing.
Still, changing attitudes and sophisticated technology have begun to frame hearing aids in a new light, and people are starting to view them in a similar way they look at eye-glasses.
If You Require Hearing Aids, You Should Wear Them, This Is Why
There are a ton of reasons why you should use hearing aids, some of them obvious and some of them unexpected.
Some of the most common reasons are as follows:
- One of the obvious factors is that you can hear better
- You’ll increase your earning power
- Social activities will be more satisfying
- You can lessen tinnitus symptoms
- Conversations will be much easier
- You’re brain won’t need to work as hard
- You won’t have to crank the TV or music up
Do these sound like good reasons to you? Even a person with minor hearing loss can get some advantage from wearing hearing aids.
What many people don’t know is that hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline, mental health problems, and conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Studies point to a number of different reasons why this might occur, this includes the overworking of the brain as it battles to comprehend sounds that it hears. it could be that the brain cells shrink and die because they don’t receive enough stimulation, or it could be due to the leading cause of depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems which is social isolation.
By allowing you to hear words and sounds around you more clearly, hearing aids can help lessen these problems. Your brain won’t need to make use of extra resources and will be able to process sounds in a normal way, while you’ll gain the ability and confidence to enjoy social activities and conversations again.
Technological Developments in Hearing Aids
By now it should be obvious why people of all ages should wear hearing aids if they require them. Now we’re going to talk about the how; as in, how hearing aid technology has progressed to the point where they’re no longer your grandparents’ hearing aids.
The bulky, over-the-ear hearing aids are still available for the people who want them. They perform their function acceptably and have progressed to the point where most of them don’t have a problem filtering out background noises like wind or determining what direction sound comes from. However, there are more modern versions of hearing aids that have sophisticated technology which makes it effortless for them to work with today’s digital world and are nearly unnoticeable.
Would you like to sync your hearing aid to your smartphone, tablet, television, or even your car’s GPS? Then you’re in luck since the majority of modern hearing aids come equipped with Bluetooth technology that permits them to sync to a range of devices. There are even higher-end versions that can stream music, track your physical activity, and automatically take and make phone calls for you. Hearing aids today are designed to do more – much like your smartwatch and smartphone, smart hearing aids will come to be a must-have accessory for anyone who has hearing loss. So now that you are ready to deal with your hearing loss and begin using a hearing aid, consult with us for an appointment and hearing assessment.