Over the years, hearing aids have carried a stigma. If you wear one, people might think of you as old. What is the result?
Many people, both young and old, forgo hearing aids and suffer needlessly from hearing loss, which itself is connected to numerous health problems. The numbers reinforce this: 30 million individuals in the United States suffering from hearing loss, yet only about 15 percent of that population has ever used a hearing aid.
In addition, the youth are suffering from hearing loss in larger numbers than they ever have: a WHO report from 2015 forecasted that 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults would damage their hearing permanently due to over the top use of headphones and extremely loud music events.
Still, developing technology and shifting perceptions have given hearing aids a new life, and pretty soon they’ll be in the same class as eye-glasses – and contact lenses, for that matter.
If You Need Hearing Aids, You Should Wear Them, Here’s Why
There are a lots of reasons why you should use hearing aids, some of them obvious and some of them surprising.
Here are several of the most common reasons:
- One of the obvious reasons is that you can hear better
- You can enjoy social activities and situations again
- You can decrease tinnitus symptoms
- You’re brain won’t have to work so hard
- You’ll boost your earning power
- You won’t need to crank the music or TV up
- You won’t have as hard a time having conversations
Do these sound like good reasons to you? Some advantage can be gained by wearing hearing aids even for people with minor hearing loss.
What many people aren’t aware of is that hearing loss is associated with mental decline, mental health issues, and conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
This might happen for a few different reasons according to research, including that the brain becomes overtaxed and overtired because it’s always attempting to comprehend sounds. It might be that the brain cells don’t receive enough activation so they shrink and die, or it might be due to the leading cause of depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems which is social isolation.
By allowing you to hear words and sounds near you more clearly, hearing aids can help alleviate these problems. Your brain can then process the sounds as it normally would without needing to use extra resources, while you’ll gain the ability and confidence to enjoy social activities and conversations again.
Technological Advances in Hearing Aids
By now it should be apparent why people of any age should wear hearing aids if they require them. Now it’s time to discover how hearing aids have advanced in the last few years.
The bulky, over-the-ear hearing aids are still out there for the people who like them. They do their task adequately and have progressed to the point where most of them don’t have a problem filtering out background noises like wind or determining which direction sound comes from. Conversely, there are more modern versions of hearing aids that are nearly invisible, yet contain quite a bit of technology to fit in with today’s digital world.
Do you want to connect your hearing aid to your smartphone, tablet, television, or even your car’s GPS? Then you’re in luck since many modern hearing aids come equipped with Bluetooth technology that allows them to sync with many different devices. There are even higher-end models keep track of your physical health, take calls for you, stream music. Smart hearing aids are becoming a must for anyone who has hearing loss because like your smartphone or smartwatch, they’re simply created to do more. Are you ready to deal with hearing loss and buy yourself a hearing aid? Consult with us to find out what kind of hearing aid will work best for you.