Putting off on important appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amidst the hustle and bustle of daily events. You may even find yourself hesitating to order hearing aids altogether. However, putting off on treatment for hearing loss is a lot more than just a misstep concerning your ears alone.
Neglected hearing loss can lead to a greater risk of mental decline
A clear link between cognitive decline and untreated hearing loss has been established by scientists and researchers. This underscores the crucial importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have adverse effects on your brain function too.
The impact on hearing
Naturally, it’s evident that delaying treatment for hearing loss isn’t conducive to preserving your auditory health. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or delaying the purchase of hearing aids, you unintentionally subject your ears to further damage.
You might find yourself continually increasing the volume on your various devices, worsening the damage to your ears and speeding up the development of hearing loss. Using a hearing aid can help alleviate this by selectively amplifying particular frequencies, thereby delaying the advancement of hearing loss.
The connection between neglected hearing loss and mental function
There’s a direct connection between your sense of hearing and your brain. Mental function can be severely impacted by untreated hearing loss according to some significant research. Over time, cognitive decline can be exacerbated by depression and anxiety caused by social separation.
Also, the recovery of healthy hearing function can be complicated because neglected hearing loss will force the brain to adapt by reallocating mental resources from other functions, such as visual processes, over to auditory processes.
Navigating neuroplasticity
In this situation, neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, can be both a friend and a foe. The brain will have a hard time reverting back to its previous state after it rewires itself to accommodate for extended neglected hearing loss.
But it is possible to reverse this effect. In both the short and the long term, utilizing hearing aids can bring considerable benefits even if you’ve put off on getting treatment for some time.
Make an appointment with a hearing specialist
You should obviously seek treatment as soon as possible, but even if you’ve delayed for a while, it’s not too late to seek help. If you’re ready to enjoy better hearing and stronger cognitive function, call us today for an assessment!
