Hearing loss can really effect how you live, even when it’s mild. The way you interact with friends, coworkers, and family members can change drastically. It can become challenging to perform day-to-day activities such as going shopping. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be all doom and gloom. On the contrary, a well calibrated pair of hearing aids can make a big difference.
Most people tend to think of those benefits in a very linear sort of way: Hearing aids help you hear better. And that’s not untrue. But how do hearing aids improve quality of life? What further benefits will hearing aids create?
Hearing aid’s top ten benefits
It’s sort of extraordinary, isn’t it, how humans can so often 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. I mean, if you’ve been aware of your hearing loss for a while… perhaps you did!
So here are the top ten benefits of using hearing aids.
1. You will have better relationships.
Great communication is critical to any great relationship. But when you have untreated hearing loss, communication can be challenging. But when you use hearing aids, you’ll be capable of hearing the whole conversation without missing anything. You’ll be able to follow along with the conversation and get the whole story.
This also means you won’t feel excluded from the conversation, and you won’t feel resentful that the conversations carry on without you. So your overall relationships, among your friends, co-workers, and family members, will improve. There is a strong link between relationships and hearing aids!
2. You’ll be more independent
When you’re dealing with neglected hearing loss, activities like shopping or dining out can be a real ordeal. Trying to communicate with wait staff and cashiers can be tricky when you can’t hear that well. But with a set of hearing aids, the whole process quickly becomes much easier. You can get around a lot more independently.
Driving will also be less hazardous. 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 without help when you can hear the world more clearly.
3. You might make more money
Let’s chuck out a hypothetical: if you’re losing large parts of what’s being discussed during meetings at work, your job performance will suffer. This can lead to lost promotions or even dicey job prospects.
When you’re wearing precisely calibrated hearing aids, you will be less fatigued from straining to hear, and following along with those meetings will be a lot easier. This can improve your focus on work and put you in a stronger position to increase your income.
4. Your tinnitus symptoms will lessen
Tinnitus is one of those things that most individuals have experienced from time to time; it’s that buzzing or ringing in your ear. 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 may also be other reasons as well).
With a hearing aid, many people observe that they experience decreased tinnitus symptoms. In these instances, that’s because the hearing aid is overpowering the sound of the tinnitus. But we will take relief where we can get it, right?
5. Less chance of developing dementia
Hearing loss and cognitive decline are firmly connected. For instance, neglected hearing loss can significantly increase your risk of developing dementia. Managing hearing loss appears to be helpful, though there are numerous theories as to why. That’s why it’s essential to be sure you use your hearing aids. You may be giving your brain a greater chance of staying healthy longer.
6. You can appreciate music again
It’s difficult to enjoy music, in its whole entirety, when you suffer from hearing impairment. That’s because one frequency of sound normally goes before the others. Maybe you’re unable to hear low frequencies, for example. The music you used to like, consequently, might sound… different.
With your hearing aids, however, those missing gaps in the music will be filled in, and you can enjoy music again! You’ll get the high notes and the low notes, instead of just one or the other (or a muffled mess). Hearing your favorite song again can be incredibly enjoyable.
7. You’ll get an increase in confidence
Being able to hear better and interact more completely will boost your confidence. And who doesn’t want confidence?
We’re not suggesting that you shouldn’t have confidence simply because you deal with hearing loss. It’s just that, especially if that hearing loss is recent, you might suddenly find it a challenge to interact with others in the same ways you always have.
A hearing aid can make those connections easier again. And that can lead to a boost in confidence.
8. You’ll have more vigor
If your hearing loss has been slowly progressing, your brain has most likely been working harder. That’s because your brain doesn’t realize your ears aren’t working correctly, 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 persistent strain.
When you get a hearing aid, you’re giving your brain a chance to relax and recharge. It will have less work to do. Which means you won’t feel so continually tired and depleted. You’ll enjoy doing the things that are stimulating for you with this increased energy.
9. You’ll be safer and more aware of your environment
If your hearing loss is new, you might not yet have completely adjusted. You’re used to hearing traffic before you step out into the road. You’re used to hearing the ambulance siren before you check the rearview mirror.
If your hearing loss is recent, or you aren’t aware of it, you might assume that some scenarios are safe when they actually aren’t. And that can be a dangerous proposition.
This lost awareness will be restored 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 admitting that something isn’t actually working right anymore. But you’re bettering yourself too.
That’s a positive thing! We should all strive for this type of thing, right? So when you put in your hearing aids, you’re making yourself a positive example and role model. (It’s okay, you can blush a bit, you deserve it.)
Schedule a hearing test right away
When you wear hearing aids you will hear better and that’s the biggest benefit. That one’s obvious. But as you know, there are boatloads of immediate benefits of hearing aids! This top ten list is by no means exhaustive.
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.
