As of late, Chris has been a little bit forgetful. She missed her doctor’s appointment two months in a row (time to reschedule again). And before she went to bed she even forgot to run the dishwasher (looks like this morning she will have to handwash her coffee cup). Lately, she’s been letting things slip through the cracks. Curiously, Chris doesn’t actually feel forgetful…she just feels mentally drained and exhausted constantly.
It can be difficult to recognize that feeling until it’s sneaking up on you. But despite how forgetful you might feel, the problem isn’t really about memory. The real issue is your hearing. And that means you can significantly improve your memory by wearing one small device.
How to Enhance Your Memory And General Cognitive Function
So, the first step you can take to improve your memory, and getting everyone’s name right at your next meeting or to make sure you arrange that day off for your eye exam, is to get your hearing checked. A standard hearing screening will be able to figure out if you have hearing loss and how bad any impairment may be.
Chris hesitates, though, because she hasn’t noticed any symptoms or signs of hearing loss. She can hear in noisy rooms somewhat well enough. And she’s never had a hard time listening to any of her team members at work.
But just because her symptoms aren’t recognizable doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. In fact, memory loss is often one of the very first noticeable signs of hearing loss. And it all involves brain strain. It works like this:
- Your hearing begins to diminish, probably so slowly you don’t realize.
- Your ears notice a lack of sound, however slight.
- Your brain starts working a little harder to interpret and boost the sounds you are able to hear.
- You can’t notice any real difference but in order to make sense of sound your brain has to work extra hard.
Your brain only has a limited amount of processing power which can really be dragged down by that sort of strain. So things such as memory and cognitive function take a back seat.
Dementia And Hearing Loss
When memory loss is extreme, the result might be dementia. And hearing loss and dementia do have a connection, though what the specific cause-effect relationship is, continues to be somewhat unknown. Still, individuals with untreated hearing loss, over time, have a higher risk for going through cognitive decline, starting with some moderate memory issues and increasing to more severe cognitive problems.
Wearing Hearing Aids Can Help You Prevent Fatigue
This is why it’s worthwhile to treat your hearing loss. Significant improvement in cognitive function was observed in 97.3% of individuals with hearing loss who wore hearing aids for at least 18 months according to one study.
A variety of other research has demonstrated similar benefits. It’s definitely helpful to wear hearing aids. Your general cognitive function gets better when your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to hear. Memory loss and issues with cognitive function can have lots of complex factors and hearing aids aren’t always a magic bullet.
The First Sign of Hearing Loss is Frequently Memory Loss
This form of memory loss is mostly a function of mental fatigue and is normally temporary. But that can change if the underlying concerns remain neglected.
Memory loss, then, can be somewhat of an early warning system. When you first begin to observe those symptoms, you should make an appointment with your hearing professional. As soon as your fundamental hearing problems are addressed, your memory should go back to normal.
As an added benefit, your hearing health will likely get better, as well. The decline in your hearing will be slowed substantially by wearing hearing aids. In a sense, your total wellness, not just your memory, could be enhanced by these little devices.