In the past, hearing aids have carried a stigma. Some people simply correlate them with aging. What is the result?
Many people, both old and young, decide against hearing aids and suffer unnecessarily from hearing loss, which is actually linked to numerous health problems. The numbers back this up: 30 million individuals in the US suffering from hearing loss, yet only about 15 percent of that population has ever used a hearing aid.
At the same time, an increasing number of young people are addressing hearing loss: a WHO report from 2015 forecasted that 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults would injure their hearing irreparably due to over the top use of headphones and louder and louder music events.
Still, progressing technology and changing perceptions have given hearing aids a new life, and soon they’ll be in the same class as eye-glasses – and contact lenses, for that matter.
Why You Should Wear Hearing Aids
There are a lots of reasons why you should wear hearing aids, some of them are surprising and some are obvious.
Here are some of the most common reasons:
- You can reduce tinnitus symptoms
- Conversations will be much smoother
- You’ll give your brain a break
- Social activities will be more pleasant
- One of the obvious reasons is that you will be able to hear better
- You’ll be able to earn more money
- You won’t need to turn the music or TV up
Are these reasons sounding beneficial to you? Even someone with mild hearing damage can find some advantage from using hearing aids.
What many people aren’t aware of is that hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline, mental health issues, and conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Research points to a few different reasons why this may happen, including that the brain gets overtaxed and overtired because it’s always attempting to comprehend sounds. It could be that the brain cells don’t receive enough activation so they shrink and die, or it may be related to social isolation, which is a leading cause of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
By letting you hear words and sounds near you more clearly, hearing aids can help alleviate these problems. Your brain can then process these sounds as it ordinarily would without needing to use additional resources, while you’ll gain the ability and confidence to enjoy social activities and conversations again.
Hearing Aids Have Advanced in Sophistication
We told you why it’s necessary for anybody with hearing loss, old or young, to wear hearing aids. Now it’s time to discover how hearing aids have advanced in the past few years.
If really think you would like one of those big over the ear hearing aids, you can still purchase one. They do their job effectively and have advanced to the point where most of them have no problem filtering out background noises like wind or determining which direction sound comes from. Conversely, there are new and improved versions of hearing aids that are virtually invisible, yet contain quite a bit of technology to work with today’s digital world.
Is syncing your hearing aids up with your Bluetooth devices such as your television, smartphone, or tablet something you would want to do? Then you’re in luck since many modern hearing aids have Bluetooth technology that allows them to sync with many different devices. There are even higher-end versions that can stream music, track your physical activity, and automatically take and make phone calls for you. Smart hearing aids are becoming a must for anyone who has hearing loss because just like your smartwatch and smartphone, they’re just created to do more. Are you ready to face hearing loss and buy yourself a hearing aid? Get in touch with us to find out what kind of hearing aid will be the right one for you.