You’re supposed to use your hearing aids every day. But before you recycle your milk containers, you’re supposed to rinse them out too. Sometimes, we don’t do the things we’re supposed to. It’s the same for hearing aids. Sometimes we forget to bring them with us. You might even forget to use it for more than one day.
That’s not good. Because when you don’t use your hearing aids a number of things occur and some things already developing get worse. And most of them, to be honest, aren’t very good.
Consequences of Forgetting to Use Your Hearing Aids
Much of what happens when you don’t wear your hearing aids will affect both your hearing health and your social life, each with varying degrees of severity and intensity. The effects and consequences of failing to use your hearing aids could include the following.
Your Hearing Will Keep Diminishing
The technology of hearing aids is fairly impressive. They increase your ability to hear and help keep your auditory complex (the part of the brain that interprets sound) working efficiently.
You might damage your hearing even more if, instead of wearing your hearing aids, you start cranking up the volume on your devices even louder than they already are. Even if you’re keeping the volumes under control, issues with your brain can result from the lack of sensory input. (It actually shrinks.) So if you don’t use your hearing aids, your hearing will likely keep getting worse (so you’ll need even more powerful hearing aids in the near future).
Social Engagement Will Become More Stressful (And Less Frequent)
You know when you go to the market and you get into a short conversation with the cashier? They’re pleasant, we think. In a world dominated by technology, these little talks are a touch of humanity.
These everyday social interactions suddenly become very difficult when you don’t use your hearing aids. You repeatedly miss parts of the conversation and have to ask people to repeat what they said. Over and over. And that’s when the conversation becomes really uncomfortable. That might not sound significant but each time a scenario like this takes place, you will tend to withdraw socially more and more. And that can result in even bigger issues.
Cognitive Decline And Hearing Aids
When you separate yourself socially, your brain gets much less exercise. After you have a nice conversation with your family, think about how revitalized (or exhausted) you can feel. Certain cognitive functions can begin to decline or decline faster without this exercise. This could mean:
- Depression
- Balance issues
- Memory issues
- Declines in energy or productivity
But there’s more. Because there are certain parts of your brain and nervous system that need to hear sounds. Without stimulation, certain nerves will begin to weaken, and your auditory complex starts to atrophy. This can result in an even more rapid mental decline (or, even in the best-case scenario, make adjusting to your hearing aids even more challenging).
Hearing aids keep your brain engaged, stimulated, and happy (more or less).
Loss of Independence
Needing a little more help, as you get older, is not abnormal. Perhaps you ask a neighbor to mow your lawn or ask your son to swing by with groceries more often. You are probably to accelerate your loss of independence if you’re not using your hearing aids.
When you don’t use your hearing aids, it can quickly become harder to answer the phone or talk with your neighbor. It’s possible that you will miss important alerts. Perhaps you don’t hear your cat meowing at night for food or your dog barking at someone ringing your doorbell.
Is There Any Solution?
Wearing a hearing aid won’t solve all of life’s problems, no matter how technologically innovative those little devices become. But they will solve many issues connected with not using your hearing aids.
You should come see us for assistance if you’re having problems with your hearing aids or if they are not comfortable.
But if you’re looking for reasons to avoid wearing your hearing aids, if you’re just forgetting them in the nightstand drawer, it’s worth taking some time to consider what could be gained by using them… and what might happen if you don’t use your hearing aids.
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References
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/otolaryngology/specialty_areas/hearing/faq.html
https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20140128/hearing-loss-tied-to-faster-brain-shrinkage-with-age
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation