In the past, hearing aids have had a stigma. If you wear one, people may think of you as old. The result?
Lots of people of all ages put themselves in danger of quite a few health concerns because they decide not to get hearing aids and decide to live with hearing loss. The numbers back this up: 30 million individuals in the United States dealing with hearing loss, yet only about 15 percent of that group has ever used a hearing aid.
In addition, the youth are suffering from hearing loss in greater numbers than ever before: a WHO report from 2015 predicted that too much use of headphones and overly loud music shows and festivals will cause over 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults to permanently damage their hearing.
However, developing technology and shifting perceptions have begun to frame hearing aids in a new light, and people are starting to look at them in a similar way they view eye-glasses.
Why You Should Wear Hearing Aids
There are a lots of reasons why you should wear hearing aids, some of them are surprising and some are obvious.
Some of the most common reasons are as follows:
- You’ll give your brain a rest
- You can enjoy social activities and settings again
- You can reduce tinnitus symptoms
- You can hear better (As noted, there were some obvious ones on the list)
- You’ll boost your earning power
- You can listen to television and music at safe volumes
- Conversations will be much smoother
Are these reasons sounding beneficial to you? Even a person with minor hearing loss can find some advantage from wearing hearing aids.
What many people don’t know is that hearing loss is connected to mental decline, mental health problems, and conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
This could occur for a number of different reasons as reported by recent studies, including that the brain gets overtaxed and overtired because it’s always striving to comprehend sounds. It’s possible that the brain cells shrink and die because they don’t get enough stimulus, or it may be related to social isolation, which is a major cause of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
By allowing you to hear words and sounds around you more clearly, hearing aids can help alleviate these issues. Your brain won’t need to make use of additional resources and will be able to process sounds in a normal way, while you’ll gain the ability and confidence to enjoy social activities and conversations again.
Technological Developments in Hearing Aids
By now it should be apparent why people of all ages need to use hearing aids if they require them. Now it’s time to discover how hearing aids have progressed in the past few years.
If really want one of those large over the ear hearing aids, you can still buy one. They do their job adequately and have advanced to the point where most of them don’t have a problem filtering out background sounds such as wind or determining what direction sound is coming from. However, there are more modern versions of hearing aids that are virtually unnoticeable, yet contain a lot of technology to fit in with today’s digital environment.
Do you want to connect your hearing aid to your cellphone, tablet, tv, or even your car’s GPS? Then you’re in luck since the majority of modern hearing aids feature Bluetooth technology that allows them to sync to many different devices. There are even higher-end versions keep track of your physical health, take calls for you, stream music. Hearing aids nowadays are made to do more – much like your smartphone and smartwatch, smart hearing aids will become a must-have accessory for anyone suffering from hearing impairment. So now that you are ready to tackle your hearing loss and start using a hearing aid, consult with us for an appointment and hearing assessment.
