Have you ever tried to disregard a toothache? They can be rather tough. After a while, you end up having no alternative but to consult a dentist. The same thing happens when your eyesight begins to blur. When you have difficulties reading street signs, you’ll most likely schedule a consultation with an ophthalmologist. The concern is, you may not show nearly as much urgency when your hearing begins to go.
And that could be an error in judgment. There are considerable health problems (particularly mental health issues) that can develop as a result of untreated hearing loss. Unfortunately, it’s pretty difficult to address your diminishing hearing if you don’t know about it. And there’s the second problem.
You Could Have Hearing Loss if You Notice These Symptoms
We tend to take our hearing for granted. A high volume music festival? No big deal.. Blaring ear pods? That’s just how you enjoy your podcasts. But all of those decisions, particularly in the long run, is going to have a significant affect on your overall hearing.
Unfortunately, those impacts could be difficult to detect. The indications of hearing loss can be almost invisible because they sneak up so slowly over time. So you should take some time to learn some primary red flags (and to be certain you don’t neglect them):
- When you’re in a crowded noisy environment you have a hard time following conversations
- You have a particularly difficult time hearing consonants when listening to casual speech
- You consistently blow the speakers in your earpods because you have the volume up too loud
- You frequently need to ask individuals to repeat themselves
- Voices of those around you (friends, family, co-workers) sounds muffled or distorted
- You encounter unexpected issues with short term memory
- You feel an inexplicable sense of exhaustion or have excessive difficulty falling asleep at night
- You keep cranking up the volume on your television, car stereo, or your smartphone
These symptoms, red flags, or warnings are all pretty well recognized. If your hearing loss comes on especially slowly, your brain will immediately start compensating for any hearing loss that occurs, making you rather unaware, at first, to your symptoms. That’s the reason why you should make an appointment with your hearing care professional because these warning symptoms should be taken seriously.
What Happens if You Neglect Your Hearing Loss?
Indeed, some people are very stubborn. Or the idea of wearing hearing aids is simply too unwelcome. They believe that wearing hearing aids makes them appear old. But that’s not actually the case (the majority of hearing aids can be quite discreet, and being capable of conversing fluently is a boon, too).
Still, it’s worth discussing what might take place if you neglect your hearing loss:
- You could cause your hearing to get worse: If you don’t utilize hearing aids or increased hearing protection, you’ll keep turning the volume on your television higher. Or you won’t use earplugs when you attend rock concerts. Which means you’ll keep doing damage to your ears and your hearing will almost definitely keep declining because of it.
- Your relationships could fray: There’s something that occurs when you have a difficult time comprehending your friends and family: you give up talking to them. You stop saying hi, you stop checking in, you pull away. Some of those relationships will be hurt, specifically if no one has any idea that the underlying cause is loss of hearing (and not some unspoken bitterness).
- Cognitive decline and depression could result: You may start to discover signs of depression as your relationships fizzle and going out becomes harder. You may also begin to experience some cognitive decline without the auditory activation your brain is used to, your neural physiology begins to experience specific changes. If your hearing loss isn’t addressed, it can lead to longterm cognitive worries.
Hearing Loss Shouldn’t be Ignored
In the future, clearly, bigger and more substantial issues can be caused by hearing loss. On the other hand, your quality of life can be considerably improved by recognizing and managing your hearing loss. When you can hear, your relationships improve and your daily life seems fuller. And your overall health will be improved by seeing a hearing specialist or at least downloading a noise monitoring app.
You definitely shouldn’t neglect the health problem of hearing loss. The sooner you find the correct treatment, the happier you’ll be. Don’t wait until the proverbial toothache becomes too painful to ignore.