Hearing aids work for most people who experience hearing loss by making speech and daily sounds clearer. They are worthwhile if hearing problems influence your conversations, relationships or daily activities – and they can even stimulate brain function.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1.5 billion people worldwide have a certain degree of hearing loss, a number that continues to rise. But you may be wondering: work hearing aids and when do you have to get them?
The fact is: they do much more than reinforce the sound. Let’s investigate how they can make a difference.
Are hearing aids worth it?
Hearing aids are definitely worthwhile to have hearing loss for most people. Here are five meaningful ways in which they can improve your quality of life.
1. They can improve communication
Hearing loss makes it more difficult to catch certain sounds, pitches and/or volumes, making conversations more difficult – especially in loud environments.
You may hear a part of what someone says, but you miss keywords, which leads to confusion and miscommunication.
Modern hearing aids help by not only improve the clarity of the sound and speech, but by reducing background noise, so that you can participate more in conversations.
One study showed that word recognition of 38% rose to 65% with them without hearing aids. That may not sound dramatic, but even small improvements can transform how easily your conversations follow and make contact with others.
2. They can improve your relationships
Miscommunication can even tax the strongest relationships. When hearing loss causes you to miss parts of conversations, this can lead to frustration, misunderstandings and emotional distance.
By following and starting conversations, hearing aids can help you stay:
- Gift
- Involved
- Deeper connected to your loved ones
Studies link routinely hearing aids to more satisfaction with relationships, as well as increased social involvement.
3. They can stimulate your mental health
Untreated hearing loss can lead to feelings of insulation, anxiety and depression. It is therefore logical that research has linked hearing aids to lower insulation rates and depressive symptoms – for both users and their loved ones.
If you cannot fully participate in conversations, it is easy to feel excluded, which can have a negative influence on your self -respect and influences how you feel through others.
Although hearing aids may not recover your hearing perfectly, they can make it easier to feel connected again, increasing your mood and trust. Some studies suggest that they can lower your risk of moderate to severe depression by no less than 40%.
4. They can help you maintain your independence
The lack of parts of conversations or not hearing important sounds – such as alarms or car horns – can not only make daily activities more difficult, but also unsafe.
In the course of time, these challenges can cause you to trust others for help in situations that you used to manage yourself.
In this way, hearing aids can help you reclaim your independence, whether you are:
- Driving or navigating other public spaces
- Order in restaurants
- Even just watch TV (so that you don’t have to ask others to repeat the dialogue)
Research shows that 39% of people surveyed report a stronger sense of independence after getting hearing aids, along with an increase in:
- To trust
- Safety
- Participation in social activities
5. They can stimulate your cognitive function
Did you know that untreated hearing loss can actually influence your brain? Research consistently links to cognitive decline and even dementia.
This connection can be due to ‘brain atrophy’, which means that the parts of the brain are responsible for the processing of sound to shrink due to lack of use.
Wearing hearing aids helps to make those neural paths work, possibly delay or prevent this decline. Published in one study in the American Journal of AudiologyOnly six months of use of the hearing aid led to A:
- 14% improvement of the working memory
- 20% improvement in selective attention (the possibility to concentrate on important sounds while the distractions are expressed)
- Significant improvement of the processing speed
These improvements suggest that hearing aids help the brain to interpret more speech more efficiently, so that mental energy is released for other important things in your life.
When should you get hearing aids?
Experts recommend getting help as soon as you notice constant problems with your hearing – even if this seems mild or only affects one ear.
Waiting too long can make it harder for your brain to learn how to process sounds again, and it can contribute to social withdrawal and cognitive decline.
Here are some specific signs that it is time to see an audiologist:
- You often ask people to repeat themselves
- You are struggling to follow conversations in noisy places
- Family or friends notice that you don’t hear well
- You will rise the TV or radio louder than others prefer
If you notice one of these signs, plan a professional hearing evaluation as quickly as possible to maintain and improve your well -being.
Last thoughts
Hearing aids work well for most people by making speech and other sounds clearer. As a result, they can help strengthen relationships, increase your self -confidence and even improve the health of your brain.
Be tested by an audiologist as soon as you notice constant hearing problems. A simple exam can be the first step in the direction of a lake connected, confident and healthy living.
References:
Fast statistics about hearing, balance and dizziness NIDCD.
Sensorineural Hearing loss – Statpearls – NCBI Bookshelf
Effects of age and hearing loss on the recognition of emotions in speech – PubMed
Effects of age and hearing loss on discrimination against speechemotions Scientific reports