Hearing aids are meant to be worn daily. But you’re also supposed to wash out your milk containers before you recycle them. We don’t always do what we’re supposed to. So yeah, you forget to take your hearing aids out of the nightstand drawer once in a while. You might even forget to use it for more than a day.
That’s not good. Because there are numerous things that happen (or continue to happen) when you don’t wear your hearing aids. And, honestly, most of them are kind of bad.
Effects And Repercussions of Going Without Hearing Aids
There will be repercussions of varying levels of intensity and severity, both to your health and social life, if you fail to wear your hearing aid. The effects and repercussions of neglecting to wear your hearing aids could include the following.
Your Level of Hearing Impairment Will Worsen
Hearing aids are amazing gadgets. Not only do they allow you to hear sounds that you normally wouldn’t have, but they also keep your auditory complex running smoothly (that’s the region of your brain responsible for the interpretation of sounds).
If you “forget” to use your hearing aids and, instead, crank your TV up to an even higher volume, you may be doing further damage to your hearing. Even if you aren’t boosting the volume, the lack of sensory input results in problems with your brain. (It actually shrinks.) So you’ll probably end up needing more powerful hearing aids in the future if you fail to use your current pair because your hearing will continue to get worse.
It Will Become More Challenging to Interact Socially
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 everyday social interactions suddenly become very difficult when you don’t use your hearing aids. You have to ask the cashier to repeat himself. Over and over. And after that, the conversation just quickly becomes strained. Maybe that sounds superficial, but every bit you retreat into yourself makes it that much easier for you to completely separate yourself socially. And that can result in even bigger problems.
Mental Decline And Hearing Aids
When you seclude yourself socially, your brain gets a lot less exercise. Think about how revitalized (or exhausted) you can feel after a good conversation or an enjoyable evening meal with your family. Without that exercise, particular cognitive processes can begin to decline (or decline faster). 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 thrive on hearing sounds. Your auditory complex begins to atrophy when certain nerves begin to weaken from lack of stimulus. This can result in an even more accelerated mental decline (or, even in the best-case scenario, make adjusting to your hearing aids even more difficult).
Your brain stays happy, stimulated, and active when you wear hearing aids.
Loss of Independence
Needing a little more help, as you get older, is not uncommon. Perhaps you ask a family member to go shopping for you or a neighbor to do some yard work. If you aren’t using your hearing aid, you could be speeding up the loss of independence that often accompanies aging.
You can miss phone calls or lose parts of conversations with your neighbor when you don’t wear 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.
Is There Any Solution?
Wearing a hearing aid won’t solve all of life’s issues, no matter how technologically innovative those little devices get. But they will solve many issues related to not wearing your hearing aids.
If you’re having problems with your hearing aids or if they’re uncomfortable, that’s one thing (and you should speak with us about getting solutions to those particular issues).
It’s worth taking some time to consider what the consequences will be if you avoid using your hearing aids and also what the advantages of wearing them might be.
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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