As we grow older, we start losing the power of some of our senses. Food might not taste as good as it used to, we might not see as far, and we might not hear as well. Hearing loss is a fear that many people have due to how important hearing is to our social lives and physical well-being. Hearing loss can be costly not only to our ability to have conversations with others and interact with them, but it can also affect other areas of our lives, including our work. Good hearing is essential for many parts of our lives and comes with the following benefits.
It Prevents Isolation and Loneliness
Many people realize they have hearing loss when they start finding it harder to follow conversations or hear certain words. The result is asking people to repeat what they have just said. Doing so gets tedious and so they stop engaging. They might become withdrawn from others, not engaging in conversations because they know it will be a chore rather than something they enjoy.
For many people, seeing a hearing aid specialist to help them find the right hearing aid can help them engage again with other people. Doing so can help them avoid the isolation and loneliness that comes with hearing loss and being unable to engage with others as they like.
Good Hearing is Linked to Better Lives
Hearing loss not only affects social interactions, workplace productivity, and family connections, it also touches every part of our lives. According to studies, hearing loss has been linked to several health issues. It has been shown to increase the risk of early onset dementia, especially as we age, earlier mortality, and an increased risk of falls and other accidents that can have a devastating effect on our lives.
Getting tested for hearing loss and receiving the appropriate help, usually through getting hearing aids, can help reduce the risks discussed above and improve the health and lives of those suffering from it. Couple this with the elimination of isolation and loneliness, and you can begin to see why good hearing is so beneficial.
It Allows One to Live Their Life To The Fullest
Hearing loss is also debilitating because it removes your ability to live your life to the fullest. People with hearing loss are unable to participate in society in different ways and to different extents. Some people with hearing loss also live in fear for their safety because they typically do not have a full understanding of the environments they are in.
Living in fear like this can have a profound effect, leading to high blood pressure and cardiac issues, and making some health conditions such as diabetes worse due to the stress and anxiety that often comes with it.
It Allows Us To Be More Productive
While how we communicate at work has changed since many people use email as well as video and audio messaging services, personal communication remains a significant part of being productive.
Miscommunication arising from poor hearing can cause employees to miss doing what they are expected to do or to do something different entirely. It can also lead to tasks taking much longer than expected because employees have to receive instructions multiple times, with a risk of repeated tasks due to a misunderstanding of provided instructions. The time and resources wasted can lead to reduced productivity and output and have a significant impact on a business’s bottom line.
It Increases the Chances of Employment
Even though it goes unsaid and no one will admit it, many businesses hire very few people with hearing loss. They do this to protect themselves from issues that can arise if an employee gets injured on the job due to their inability to fully understand the environment around them.
People with hearing loss are five times less likely to be employed than people who hear well, which is a statistic that should change. Fortunately, hearing aids and different accommodations have enabled people with hearing loss to find employment. Some businesses also provide employees or new hires with hearing loss the help they need to get hearing aids and sometimes change their processes to accommodate those with hearing loss.
It Makes Our Brains Better
Hearing helps keep our brains active and engaged, which makes them healthier. The result is a reduced risk of cognitive decline, memory issues, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.
Besides reducing the risks associated with memory, cognitive decline, and dementia, good hearing also improves our brains in other ways. Stimulating conversations and good music activates different areas of the brain. The activation of and interactions between these different areas of our brains make us better at processing memories, emotions, and language.
With untreated hearing loss, our ability to connect with sounds starts to weaken and can get lost altogether. Over the long term, we begin to see and experience negative effects on overall mental health and performance as well as cognitive ability.
Preventing Hearing Loss
Seeing how beneficial good hearing is to our lives, it is important to discuss how to prevent hearing loss. There is little one can do to stop hearing loss associated with aging, but we can control hearing loss caused by other factors.
The best way to do this is to reduce noise levels around us. Many young people are experiencing hearing loss due to headphones and earbuds. They listen to their music too loud or attend live concerts. Many of them do not give their ears time to recover after doing this. This type of damage builds on itself until one starts experiencing hearing loss.
Some employed people experience hearing loss due to their work environments. This is typically seen in people who use noisy machinery or who work in noisy environments such as nightclubs. For these people, the best way to prevent hearing loss is to use headphones and earplugs that protect their ears.
Good hearing has a lot of social and health benefits. It also impacts our brains and can raise or reduce the risk of mental illness caused by isolation and loneliness due to hearing loss. It is, therefore, important to put measures in place to prevent hearing loss, typically by reducing the amount of noise around you.
