Putting off on essential appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amidst the hustle and bustle of day-to-day events. You might not even get around to shopping for hearing aids at all. But hearing loss affects more than just your ears and delaying treatment can have negative effects on your whole life.
Neglected hearing loss can lead to a higher risk of mental decline
Scientists have proven a clear connection between untreated hearing loss and cognitive decline. This underscores the crucial importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have negative effects on your brain function also.
The impact on hearing
If you care about your hearing health, it’s important to never neglect any symptoms of hearing loss. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or holding off on the purchase of hearing aids, you unintentionally subject your ears to further damage.
You might find yourself constantly boosting the volume on your various devices, worsening the damage to your ears and accelerating the development of hearing loss. Using a hearing aid can help mitigate this by selectively amplifying particular frequencies, thereby delaying the advancement of hearing loss.
The link between neglected hearing loss and cognitive function
There’s a direct link between your sense of hearing and your brain. Mental function can be seriously impacted by neglected hearing loss according to some substantial research. Over time, mental decline can be exacerbated by depression and anxiety brought on by social separation.
Moreover, prolonged untreated hearing loss prompts the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from processing sound to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the restoration of healthy hearing function later on.
Navigating neuroplasticity
In this scenario, neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, can be both a friend and a foe. While it allows for flexibility and recovery, extended untreated hearing loss can result in considerable rewiring of the brain, making it difficult to revert to previous functionality.
However, it isn’t impossible to undo these effects. In spite of previous delays in seeking treatment, using hearing aids as prescribed by a specialist can still deliver significant benefits in both the short and long term.
Call us for an appointment
While quick treatment is ideal, it’s never too late to tackle hearing loss. Scheduling an appointment with us as soon as you can is essential, ensuring you can enjoy improved hearing and mental function going forward. Call today!
