Even when it’s fairly minor, hearing loss can have a major impact on your life. The way you connect with friends, coworkers, and loved ones can change dramatically. Daily tasks like going to the grocery store can grow more challenging. But that doesn’t mean it has to be all doom and gloom. If you use a well adjusted hearing aid, it can make a huge difference.
Most people normally think of those advantages in a really linear sort of way: Hearing aids help you hear better. And that’s true. But how is the quality of life enhanced? Just how far do the advantages of hearing aids go?
The top ten reasons to get hearing aids
It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it, how humans can so frequently put together top ten lists for everything? I bet you didn’t think you would be reading a top ten list about hearing aids when you got up this morning. Well, maybe you did if you’ve been dealing with your hearing loss for a while.
So here are the top ten advantages of using hearing aids.
1. You will have improved relationships.
Great communication is critical to any good relationship. But when you have neglected hearing loss, communication can be a real challenge. With hearing aids, you’ll finally hear more than little snippets of conversation. You’ll be able to keep up with the conversation and get the entire story.
This also means you won’t feel excluded from the conversation, and you won’t feel resentful that the conversations go on without you. So you will have an improvement in your relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. There is a strong link between relationships and hearing aids!
2. You’ll be more independent
Shopping at the grocery store or going to a restaurant when you’re dealing with untreated hearing loss can feel like an ordeal. When you’re unable to hear very well, communicating with cashiers and wait staff can be challenging. But the entire process gets easier when you have hearing aids. You’ll have a lot more independence when you navigate the world around you.
You’ll also be in a better position to drive safely. That’s because your hearing aids will increase your all-around situational awareness (more on that later). When you hear more of the world, you’ll be able to do more without any help, and you’ll be able to do it with less anxiety.
3. Better hearing may result in higher pay
Consider this hypothetical situation: if you’re losing large parts of what’s being talked about during meetings at work, your work performance will be affected negatively. This can lead to diminished job prospects and being passed-up for promotions.
When you’re wearing properly calibrated hearing aids, you will be less exhausted from struggling to hear, and following along with those meetings will be a lot easier. By doing this you can have an opportunity to boost your income by improving your ability to focus on work.
4. Your tinnitus symptoms will lessen
Tinnitus is that ringing or buzzing in the ear that the majority of us have experienced occasionally. Tinnitus symptoms will frequently be more intense and more often with hearing loss (tinnitus is sometimes more noticeable with hearing loss simply because everything else is quieter, but there might also be other reasons as well).
With a hearing aid, many people note that they experience decreased tinnitus symptoms. In these circumstances, that’s because the hearing aid is overpowering the sound of the tinnitus. But we will take relief whenever we can, right?
5. Less chance of developing dementia
There is a firm link between cognitive decline and hearing loss. Your risk of developing dementia can be significantly elevated by ignoring hearing loss, for instance. There are lots of theories about why this may be, but the end result is that treating your hearing loss appears to be helpful! That’s why it’s important to make sure you wear your hearing aids. You could be helping the health of your brain!
6. Music can once again be enjoyed
When you have hearing loss music is harder to hear clearly. That’s because hearing loss tends to impact one wavelength of sound first, then another. For instance, you may be unable to pick up low frequencies. The music you used to like, as a result, might sound… different.
With your hearing aids, though, those missing gaps in the music will be filled in, and you can appreciate music again! You’ll hear all of the frequencies and your music won’t sound so garbled. Hearing your favorite tune again can be extremely enjoyable.
7. Your confidence will improve
Your confidence will be enhanced when you can hear better and have more successful interactions. And who doesn’t want confidence?
This isn’t to say that hearing loss should rob you of your confidence. It’s just that, particularly if that hearing loss is new, you may suddenly find it difficult to interact with people in the same ways you always have.
Those interactions can become easier again when you use hearing aids. And that can lead to improved confidence.
8. You’ll have more vigor
If your hearing loss has been slowly progressing, your brain has likely been working harder. The audio holes that your hearing loss is creating will try to be filled in by your brain because it doesn’t know that your ears aren’t functioning. That’s… a lot of work! And it means that your brain is struggling (and strained) almost continuously.
Your brain gets to recharge and unwind when you use a hearing aid. It won’t need to work so hard. Which means you won’t feel so continuously tired and drained. You’ll have more vitality to do the things you love to do!
9. Being more aware of your surroundings will keep you safer
If your hearing loss is new, you might not yet have completely adapted. You’re used to hearing oncoming traffic before you step out into the road. You’re used to hearing the emergency siren before you look in the rearview mirror.
If your hearing loss is recent, or you aren’t aware of it, you may assume that some scenarios are safe when they actually aren’t. That can put you in some very unsafe scenarios.
This lost awareness will be recovered by using hearing aids. Your decision making will be wiser and safer.
10. You’ll be a positive example!
The one thing that can be even more challenging than change is personal growth. You’re admitting that things aren’t working properly now when you invest in a hearing aid. But you’re also attempting to better the situation.
There’s nothing wrong with that! It’s the kind of thing we should all work for! So when you put in your hearing aids, you’re making yourself a positive example and role model. You should be proud of yourself.
Schedule an appointment for a hearing test right away
The main benefit of hearing aids is that you get to experience hearing better. That one’s obvious. But as you can tell, there are boatloads of immediate benefits of hearing aids! This top ten list is just that, one little list of only ten of these benefits.
Your top ten list may look a little different. No matter what benefits you look forward to the most, the first step is scheduling an appointment with us to have your hearing checked.