Have you ever attempted to disregard a toothache? They can be pretty rough. Eventually, you’re absolutely pleading to go to the dentist. The same thing happens when your eyesight starts to lose focus. When you have problems reading street signs, you’ll most likely make a consultation with an ophthalmologist. But the problem is, when your hearing begins to go you may not show as much urgency.
This would probably be an oversight. Neglected hearing loss can be responsible for considerable health problems (particularly mental problems). Unfortunately, it’s pretty difficult to address your diminishing hearing if you aren’t aware of it. And that’s problem number two.
You Might Have Hearing Loss if You Notice These Symptoms
We commonly don’t appreciate our hearing. A loud performance? No big deal.. Blasting ear pods? That’s just how you prefer your podcasts. But your overall hearing will be considerably affected by every one of these decisions, especially in the long run.
It can, regrettably, be hard to notice these impacts. Hearing loss can sneak up on you gradually, with symptoms that progress so gradually as to be basically invisible. That’s why it’s a smart idea to know some primary red flags (and to deal with them sooner than later):
- Your short term memory tends to suddenly fail now and then
- You always need to crank up the volume on your devices
- You can’t maintain a set of earbuds because you keep blowing the speakers
- You find yourself asking people around you to repeat what they said quite often
- When you’re in a crowded noisy situation you have a tough time keeping up with conversations
- You have a particularly difficult time hearing consonants when listening to everyday speech
- You feel an unexplained sense of exhaustion or have excessive difficulty falling asleep at night
- Voices of those near you (friends, family, co-workers) sounds muffled or distorted
It’s fairly well known what these red flags and symptoms indicate. If your loss of hearing comes on particularly gradually, your brain will instantly begin to compensate for any hearing loss that occurs, making you somewhat unaware, at first, to your symptoms. That’s why any of these warning symptoms should be taken seriously, which means you should make an appointment to see your hearing specialist.
If You Neglect Your Hearing Loss, What Will Happen?
Some individuals are, indeed, stubborn. Or the idea of wearing hearing aids is just too unwelcome. They assume that wearing hearing aids makes them appear old. But that’s not really the situation (the majority of hearing aids can be very discreet, and being capable of conversing fluently is a benefit, too).
Still, if you neglect hearing loss it could lead to several issues:
- You could cause your hearing to get worse: Without a hearing aid or enhanced ear protection, you’ll keep turning the volume on your television higher. Or you’ll keep going to rock concerts without any earplugs. Which means you’ll continue doing damage to your ears and your hearing will almost certainly keep declining because of it.
- You could have tense relationships: When you have a difficult time comprehending what your friends and family are saying, something can change in the relationship: you start having fewer conversations with them. You don’t call to say hi, you don’t keep up with what’s going on with them, you withdraw. And that can damage some of those relationships, specifically if no one has any clue that the underlying cause is loss of hearing (and not some unspoken bitterness).
- You could suffer from depression and cognitive decline: As your relationships falter and going out becomes more challenging, you might start to experience symptoms of depression. You may also begin to experience some mental decline if your brain doesn’t receive the auditory activation that it’s used to, your neural physiology starts to experience certain changes. If your hearing loss isn’t dealt with, it can result in longterm cognitive worries.
Don’t Ignore Your Hearing Loss
In the future, clearly, bigger and more significant problems can be brought about by hearing loss. Conversely, your quality of life can be significantly improved by recognizing and managing your hearing loss. When you can hear, your relationships get better and your every day life seems fuller. And your overall health will be enhanced by seeing a hearing specialist or at least downloading a noise monitoring app.
You absolutely shouldn’t ignore the health concern of hearing loss. A happier life begins when you find the proper treatment. Don’t wait until the proverbial toothache becomes too painful to ignore.