You’re supposed to wear your hearing aids daily. But you’re also supposed to wash out your milk containers before you recycle them. We don’t always do what we’re supposed to. So yeah, you skip taking your hearing aids out of the nightstand drawer occasionally. You may even forget to wear it for more than one day.
That isn’t a really smart idea. Because when you don’t wear your hearing aids several things happen and some things already developing get worse. And, honestly, most of them are rather negative.
Effects And Consequences of Going Without Hearing Aids
There will be repercussions of varying degrees of intensity and severity, both to your health and social life, if you fail to use your hearing aid. Here are some of those effects and repercussions.
Your Hearing Will Keep Diminishing
Hearing aids are remarkable gadgets. Not only do they let you hear sounds that you normally wouldn’t have, but they also keep your auditory complex working efficiently (that’s the region of your brain responsible for the interpretation of sounds).
You might damage your hearing even more if, instead of wearing your hearing aids, you begin turning the volume up on your devices even higher than they already are. Even if you’re keeping the volumes under control, issues with your brain can result from missing sensory stimuli. (It actually shrinks.) So you’ll most likely wind up needing more powerful hearing aids in the future if you fail to wear your current pair because your hearing will continue to get worse.
It Will Become More Challenging to Engage Socially
You know when you go to the store and you get into a short discussion with the cashier? They’re enjoyable, we think. A nice little bit of humanity in a technological world.
When you don’t use your hearing aids, these basic social interactions can suddenly be much more challenging. You have to ask the cashier to repeat what they said. Over and over. And once that happens, the conversation just quickly becomes strained. Perhaps that sounds superficial, but every bit you withdraw into yourself makes it that much easier for you to completely separate yourself socially. And that can cause even bigger problems.
Hearing Aids And Mental Decline
When you seclude yourself socially, your brain gets much less exercise. After you have a pleasant conversation with your family, think about how revitalized (or exhausted) you can feel. Without that exercise, certain mental processes can start to decline (or decline faster). This could mean:
- Balance troubles
- Depression
- Declines in energy or productivity
- Memory issues
But that’s not all. Because there are certain parts of your brain and nervous system that need to hear sounds. Without stimulation, certain nerves will begin to weaken, and your auditory complex starts to atrophy. This can make it more difficult to get used to your new hearing aids and in the worst case accelerate the mental decline.
Your brain stays happy, stimulated, and engaged when you use hearing aids.
Loss of Independence
It’s not unusual, as you get older, to require a little more help. Perhaps you hire a neighbor to mow your lawn or ask your son to swing by with supplies more often. If you aren’t using your hearing aid, you could be expediting the loss of independence that frequently comes with aging.
When you don’t use your hearing aids, it can rapidly become more difficult to answer the phone or have a conversation with your neighbor. You could miss important weather alerts. Maybe you don’t hear your dog barking when there’s someone at the door or your cat meowing in the morning when he needs food.
What’s The Solution?
No matter how technologically advanced hearing aids become, they won’t solve all of life’s problems. But many of the issues connected to failing to use your hearing aid can be resolved.
If you’re having trouble with your hearing aids or if they’re not comfortable, that’s one thing (and you should talk to us about finding solutions to those particular issues).
But if you’re looking for reasons to refrain from wearing your hearing aids, if you’re just forgetting them in the nightstand drawer, it’s worth taking some time to think about what could be gained by using them… and what might happen if you don’t use your hearing aids.
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References
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/otolaryngology/specialty_areas/hearing/faq.html
https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20140128/hearing-loss-tied-to-faster-brain-shrinkage-with-age
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation