Putting off on essential appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amongst the hustle and bustle of daily events. You might not even get around to shopping for hearing aids at all. But hearing loss affects more than only your ears and delaying treatment can have negative effects on your whole life.
The link to mental decline
A clear link between cognitive decline and neglected hearing loss has been demonstrated by scientists and researchers. This underscores the critical importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have negative effects on your brain function too.
Hearing loss will worsen if it goes untreated
Obviously, it’s evident that putting off treatment for hearing loss isn’t helpful for maintaining your auditory health. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or holding off on the purchase of hearing aids, you unintentionally subject your ears to additional damage.
You may find yourself constantly increasing the volume on your various devices, exacerbating the damage to your ears and accelerating the progression of hearing loss. Wearing a hearing aid can help alleviate this by selectively amplifying particular frequencies, thereby slowing down the advancement of hearing loss.
The link to cognitive function
There’s a close connection between your sense of hearing and your brain. Cognitive function can be seriously impacted by neglected hearing loss according to some substantial research. Social isolation, frequently a consequence of diminished hearing, can lead to mental health problems including depression and anxiety, which in turn can exacerbate mental decline over time.
Furthermore, long-term neglected hearing loss causes the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from processing sound to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the recovery of healthy hearing function later on.
Navigating neuroplasticity
The brain’s remarkable ability to adapt, known as neuroplasticity, is both a friend and a foe in this scenario. While it allows for flexibility and recovery, extended untreated hearing loss can lead to significant rewiring of the brain, making it difficult to return to previous functionality.
But it is possible to undo this effect. In both the short and the long term, utilizing hearing aids can bring considerable benefits even if you’ve put off on getting treatment for some time.
Make an appointment with a hearing specialist
While timely treatment is ideal, it’s never too late to address hearing loss. Scheduling an appointment with us as soon as you can is essential, ensuring you can enjoy improved hearing and cognitive function moving forward. Call today!