Even when it’s somewhat mild, hearing loss can have a major impact on your life. The way you connect with friends, coworkers, and family members can change dramatically. It can become difficult to complete daily tasks such as going shopping. But that doesn’t mean it has to be all doom and gloom. Quite the opposite, a well adjusted set of hearing aids can make a big difference.
Most individuals usually think of those benefits in a really linear sort of way: Hearing aids help you hear better. And that’s true. But how do hearing aids improve quality of life? Just how far do the advantages of hearing aids go?
The top ten reasons to get hearing aids
We humans just love creating top ten lists. I bet you didn’t think you would be reading a top ten list about hearing aids when you got up this morning. I mean, if you’ve been aware of your hearing loss for a while… perhaps you did!
So, what are the top ten advantages connected with using your hearing aid? Here they are!
1. Your relationships will get better
Great communication is crucial to any good relationship. But when you have untreated hearing loss, communication can be a real challenge. With hearing aids, you’ll finally hear more than little snippets of conversation. You’ll hear everything, you’ll get the whole story, and you’ll be able to keep up with the conversation.
You won’t be resentful and feel excluded from conversations. So you will have an improvement in your relationships with family members, friends, and colleagues. The link between hearing aids and relationships is a strong one!
2. You’ll be more independent
Shopping at the supermarket or going to a restaurant when you’re dealing with untreated hearing loss can feel like an ordeal. Attempting to communicate with wait staff and cashiers can be challenging when you can’t hear very well. But with a set of hearing aids, the entire process suddenly becomes much easier. You’ll have a lot more independence when you move around the world around you.
You’ll also be better able to drive safely. That’s because your hearing aids will increase your all-around situational awareness (more on that in a bit). You will be less anxious about doing things by yourself when you can hear the world more clearly.
3. Better hearing may result in higher pay
Let’s throw out a hypothetical: if you’re attending a meeting at work and miss half of what’s said, you may not do your job quite as well. This can result in diminished job opportunities and being passed-up for promotions.
With your hearing aids firmly in place and working properly, you’ll be able to keep up with meetings, and you won’t be as tired all the time from struggling to hear. This can boost your focus on work and put you in a stronger position to increase your income.
4. Your tinnitus symptoms will diminish
Tinnitus is one of those things that most individuals have experienced now and again; it’s that buzzing or ringing in your ear. When you have hearing loss, tinnitus can usually be felt much more powerfully (there are a number of explanations for this, sometimes the tinnitus is only relatively louder because everything else is so quiet, for example).
With a hearing aid, many individuals observe that they experience reduced tinnitus symptoms. In these instances, that’s because the hearing aid is drowning out the sound of the tinnitus. But we will take relief whenever we can, right?
5. Reduced risk of mental decline
There is a firm connection between mental decline and hearing loss. Your risk of developing dementia can be seriously elevated by disregarding hearing loss, for instance. There are lots of hypotheses about why this might be, but the end result is that treating your hearing loss seems to help! That’s why it isn’t a good idea to forget to wear your hearing aid. You could be giving your brain a greater chance of staying healthy longer.
6. You can appreciate music again
When you have hearing loss music is more difficult to hear clearly. That’s because hearing loss tends to impact one wavelength of sound first, then another. For example, you might be unable to pick up low frequencies. The music you used to like, consequently, may sound… different.
You will be able to appreciate music again with your hearing aids filling in the missing sound. You’ll get the high notes and the low notes, instead of just one or the other (or a garbled mess). Hearing your favorite tune again can be extremely enjoyable.
7. Your confidence will grow
Your confidence will be boosted when you can hear better and have more effective interactions. And who doesn’t like confidence?
We’re not implying that you shouldn’t have confidence just because you have hearing loss. It’s just that, particularly if that hearing loss is new, you could suddenly find it difficult to interact with people in the same ways you usually do.
Those connections can become easier again when you use hearing aids. And when that takes place, confidence will improve.
8. Your energy will be higher
If your hearing impairment has been gradually advancing, your brain has most likely been working overtime. That’s because your brain doesn’t realize your ears aren’t working right, so it’s continuously trying to fill in the audio gaps that your hearing loss has produced. That’s… a lot of work! And so, your brain is under constant strain.
When you invest in a hearing aid, you’re giving your brain an opportunity to slow down and refresh. It will have less work to do. With this, continuous exhaustion and weariness will be reduced. You’ll have more vitality to do the things you enjoy doing!
9. You’ll be safer and more aware of your environment
You might not have adjusted to your hearing loss, particularly if it’s new. Normally, you would hear approaching traffic before you step out into the street. Before you look up into your rearview mirror, you would usually hear the oncoming sirens.
You may assume certain situations are safe when, because you’re unaware of your hearing loss, or you’ve neglected it, they actually aren’t. And that can be a dangerous proposition.
This lost awareness will be recovered by using hearing aids. So you’ll be capable of making smarter, safer decisions.
10. You’ll be a positive example!
Change can be difficult, and personal growth still harder. When you get a hearing aid, you’re accepting that something isn’t necessarily working right anymore. But you’re also attempting to improve the situation.
That’s a good thing! We should all strive for this type of thing, right? So you’re becoming a role model and a positive example when you wear your hearing aids. (It’s okay, you can blush a bit, you deserve it.)
Get your hearing checked today
When you wear hearing aids you will hear better and that’s the primary benefit. That one’s obvious. But as you can tell, there are lots of immediate benefits of hearing aids! This top ten list is only that, one little list of only ten of these benefits.
Your top ten list might look a little different. No matter what advantages you look forward to the most, the first step is scheduling an appointment with us to have your hearing tested.