You’re supposed to use your hearing aids daily. But you’re also supposed to wash out your milk jugs before recycling them. Sometimes, we don’t do the things we’re supposed to. The same goes for hearing aids. Sometimes we forget to take them with us. You might even forget to wear it for more than a day.
That’s not great. Because when you don’t use your hearing aids several things occur and some things already happening get worse. And, honestly, the majority of them are rather negative.
Effects And Repercussions of Going Without Hearing Aids
Much of what occurs when you don’t wear your hearing aids will impact both your hearing health and your social life, each with varying degrees of severity and intensity. The effects and repercussions of failing to wear your hearing aids could include the following.
Your Hearing Will Keep Diminishing
Hearing aids are amazing devices. Not only do they allow you to hear sounds that you otherwise wouldn’t have, but they also keep your auditory complex working efficiently (that’s the part of your brain responsible for the interpretation of sounds).
You could damage your hearing even more if, instead of wearing your hearing aids, you begin turning the volume up on your devices even higher than they already are. Even if you’re keeping the volumes under control, problems with your brain can result from the lack of sensory stimuli. (It actually shrinks.) So if you don’t wear your hearing aids, your hearing will likely continue to get worse (which means you’ll need even more powerful hearing aids in the near future).
Social Interactions Will Become More Difficult (And Less Consistent)
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 of technology, these little chats are a touch of humanity.
These normal social connections suddenly become really difficult when you don’t wear your hearing aids. You need to ask the cashier to repeat himself. Over and over. And that’s when the conversation becomes really uncomfortable. That may not sound significant but each time a scenario like this takes place, you will tend to withdraw socially more and more. And the result can be even more serious.
Hearing Aids And Cognitive Decline
When you seclude yourself socially, your brain gets much less exercise. Think about how invigorated (or exhausted) you can feel after a good conversation or a pleasant evening dinner with your family. Certain cognitive functions can begin to decline or decline faster without this exercise. This could mean:
- Depression
- Memory problems
- Balance troubles
- Declines in energy or productivity
But that’s not all. Because hearing sound is vitally important to certain regions of your brain and nervous system. Without stimulation, certain nerves will begin to weaken, and your auditory complex begins to atrophy. This can make it more difficult to adapt to your new hearing aids and in the worst case accelerate the cognitive decline.
Hearing aids keep your brain engaged, stimulated, and happy (for the most part).
Loss of Independence
Needing a bit more help, as you get older, is not uncommon. Perhaps you ask a family member to go to the store for you or a neighbor to do some yard work. If you aren’t wearing your hearing aid, you could be speeding up the loss of independence that often accompanies aging.
You can miss phone calls or fail to hear parts of conversations with your neighbor when you don’t use your hearing aids. It’s possible that you will miss important alerts. Maybe you don’t hear your cat meowing at night for food or your dog barking at somebody knocking on your door.
What’s The Solution?
No matter how technologically advanced hearing aids get, they won’t solve all of life’s issues. But many of the problems associated with failing to wear your hearing aid can be solved.
You need to come see us for help if you’re having issues with your hearing aids or if they are not comfortable.
It’s worth taking some time to think about what the repercussions will be if you avoid wearing your hearing aids and also what the benefits of wearing them might be.
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