Even when it’s fairly minor, hearing loss can have a big impact on your life. The way you communicate with friends, coworkers, and loved ones can change drastically. It can become a challenge to complete daily activities such as going shopping. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be all doom and gloom. Quite the opposite, a well adjusted set of hearing aids can make a huge difference.
Most individuals tend to think of those benefits in a really linear sort of way: Hearing aids help you hear better. And that’s not untrue. But how do hearing aids better quality of life? What further benefits will hearing aids create?
Hearing aid’s top ten benefits
We people just love producing top ten lists. When you got up today, did you think you’d be reading a top ten list about hearing aids? Well, maybe you did if you’ve been coping with your hearing loss for a while.
So here are the top ten benefits of using hearing aids.
1. You will have better relationships.
Strong communication is crucial to any great relationship. But when you have neglected hearing loss, communication can be challenging. With hearing aids, you’ll finally hear more than little bits of conversation. You’ll be able to keep up with the conversation and get the whole story.
This also means you won’t feel left out of the conversation, and you won’t feel resentful that the conversations go on without you. So your overall relationships, amongst your friends, co-workers, and family members, will improve. The connection between hearing aids and relationships is a powerful one!
2. You’ll have more independence
Shopping at the supermarket or going to a restaurant when you’re dealing with untreated hearing loss can be an ordeal. Trying to communicate with wait staff and cashiers can be difficult when you can’t hear very well. But with a pair of hearing aids, the whole process suddenly becomes a lot easier. You can navigate much more independently.
You’ll also be better able to drive safely. That’s because your hearing aids will enhance your all-around situational awareness (more on that in a bit). You won’t be as anxious about doing things by yourself when you’re able to hear the world more clearly.
3. You could 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 be affected negatively. This can lead to reduced job prospects and being passed-up for promotions.
When you’re wearing precisely tuned hearing aids, you will be less fatigued from straining to hear, and following along with those meetings will be a lot easier. This can boost your focus on work and put you in a better position to increase your income.
4. You’ll have reduced tinnitus symptoms
Tinnitus is that buzzing or ringing in the ear that most of us have experienced occasionally. When you suffer from hearing loss, tinnitus can frequently be experienced much more powerfully (tinnitus is sometimes louder with hearing loss simply because everything else is quieter, but there could also be other reasons as well).
With a hearing aid, many individuals observe that they experience diminished tinnitus symptoms. The louder overall external sound supplied by the hearing aid could be, in some cases, just drowning out the tinnitus symptoms. But we will take relief where we can get it, right?
5. Less chance of developing dementia
Hearing loss and cognitive issues are strongly linked. Your chance of developing cognitive decline can be significantly elevated by disregarding hearing loss, for instance. There are lots of hypotheses about why this may be, but the end result is that managing your hearing loss appears to be helpful! That’s why it’s essential to be sure you use your hearing aids. You could be giving your brain a better chance of remaining healthy longer.
6. You can enjoy music again
It’s tough to appreciate music, in its full entirety, when you have hearing impairment. That’s because one wavelength of sound typically goes before the others. For example, you may be unable to pick up low frequencies. As a result, the song you once enjoyed may just sound… weird.
With your hearing aids, though, those missing holes in the music will be filled in, and you can appreciate music again! You’ll get the high notes and the low notes, instead of just one or the other (or a garbled mess). Hearing your favorite band again can be extremely enjoyable.
7. Your confidence will improve
Having better hearing and interacting more completely will boost your confidence. And who doesn’t want confidence?
This is not to say that hearing loss should rob you of your confidence. It’s just that, especially if that hearing loss is new, you might suddenly find it challenging to interact with people in the same ways you usually do.
Those connections can become easier again with hearing aids. And that can result in a boost in confidence.
8. You’ll have more vigor
If your hearing loss has been gradually developing, your brain has probably been working overtime. The audio holes that your hearing loss is producing will try to be filled in by your brain because it doesn’t know that your ears aren’t working. That’s hard work. And it means that your brain is struggling (and strained) almost all the time.
Your brain gets to recharge and unwind when you use a hearing aid. It will have less work to accomplish. Which means you won’t feel so consistently tired and depleted. You’ll have more energy to do the things you enjoy doing!
9. Being more conscious of your surroundings will keep you safer
You might not have adjusted to your hearing loss, particularly if it’s new. Ordinarily, you would hear approaching traffic before you step out into the road. You’re accustomed to hearing the emergency siren before you look in the rearview mirror.
If your hearing loss is recent, or you aren’t conscious of it, you might assume that some scenarios are safe when they really aren’t. And that can be a dangerous proposition.
This lost awareness will be recovered by using hearing aids. Your decision making will be wiser and safer.
10. You’ll be a positive example!
Change can be tough, and personal growth still harder. You’re acknowledging that things aren’t functioning effectively now when you invest in a hearing aid. But you’re also trying to better the situation.
There’s nothing wrong with that! It’s the kind of thing we should all work for! So when you put in your hearing aids, you’re making yourself a positive example and role model. (It’s fine, you can blush a bit, you deserve it.)
Schedule an appointment for a hearing exam right away
When you use hearing aids you will hear better and that’s the main advantage. That goes without saying. But there are plenty of benefits to using hearing aids. This top ten list is just that, one little list of just ten of these benefits.
You might have an entirely different top ten list. Scheduling an appointment with us for a hearing exam is the first step no matter what benefits you look forward to.