Over the years, hearing aids have carried a stigma. If you use one, people may think of you as aging. The effect?
Countless people, both young and old, forgo hearing aids and suffer needlessly from hearing loss, which is actually linked to several health problems. The numbers back this up: 30 million people in the United States suffering from hearing loss, yet only about 15 percent of that group has ever worn a hearing aid.
What’s more, younger people are suffering from hearing loss in larger numbers than ever before: a WHO report from 2015 predicted that 1.1 billion teens and young adults would damage their hearing irreparably due to excessive use of headphones and louder and louder music shows.
However, changing attitudes and advanced technology have given hearing aids a new outlook, and pretty soon they’ll be in the same category as eye-glasses – and contact lenses, for that matter.
Why You Should Wear Hearing Aids
There are a ton of reasons why wearing hearing aids is a smart idea, some of them are surprising and some are obvious.
Several of the most common reasons are as follows:
- You won’t have to crank the TV or music up
- You can hear better (As noted, there were some obvious ones on the list)
- You’ll raise your earning power
- You can enjoy social activities and situations again
- You’re brain won’t need to work so hard
- Conversations will be a lot smoother
- You can reduce tinnitus symptoms
Are these reasons sounding good to you? Even somebody with minor hearing loss can get some advantage from using hearing aids.
What many people don’t know is that hearing loss is associated with mental decline, mental health problems, and conditions such as Alzheimers disease and dementia.
This could happen for several different reasons based on recent studies, including that the brain gets overtaxed and overtired because it’s always trying to comprehend sounds. it could be that the brain cells shrink and die because they don’t get enough stimulus, or it may be because of the number one cause of anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues which is social isolation.
By allowing you to hear words and sounds near you more clearly, hearing aids can help lessen these problems. Your brain won’t have to utilize extra resources and will be able to process sounds in a standard way, while you’ll gain the confidence and ability to enjoy social experiences and conversations again.
Hearing Aids Have Developed in Sophistication
By now it should be obvious why people of all ages need to use hearing aids if they need them. Now we’re going to talk about the how; as in, how hearing aid technology has progressed to the point where they’re nothing like your grandparents’ hearing aids.
The cumbersome, over-the-ear hearing aids are still available for the people who like them. They do their job effectively and have progressed to the point where the majority of them don’t have a problem filtering out background sounds like wind or determining what direction sound is coming from. However, there are new and improved versions of hearing aids that are virtually invisible, yet pack quite a bit of technology to fit in with today’s digital environment.
Is connecting your hearing aids to your Bluetooth devices including your television, phone, or tablet something you might want to do? Then you’re in luck since most modern hearing aids come equipped with Bluetooth technology that enables them to connect to a variety of devices. There are even higher-end models keep track of your physical health, stream music, and take calls for you. Smart hearing aids are becoming a must for anybody who has hearing impairment because like your smartphone or smartwatch, they’re just created to do more. So now that you’re ready to tackle your hearing loss and start using a hearing aid, consult with us for an appointment and hearing assessment.