Posted on Monday, November 12, 2012

Hearing Loss Effects

A male ear with an in-the-ear hearing aid.

Hearing loss can happen to anyone at any time. It can be genetic or instant and everyone is at risk for developing some form of hearing loss. The risk increases with age, but isn’t exclusive to any particular age. Untreated hearing loss has effects in health, both emotional and physical, and has been shown to even impact income.

There are three general categories in which hearing loss can impact a person’s life: primary ways that are more obvious and a clear correlation between the effect and hearing loss can be shown. Secondary effects which can sometimes be misconstrued or overlooked in relation to hearing loss and the resulting health effects which may or may not be primary or secondary.

1. Primary Effects: speech, language, communication, and learning. Untreated hearing loss has been shown to create barriers, inhibit learning, and can result in the loss of language and brain atrophy in areas of the mind needed for hearing and communication.


2. Secondary Effects: depression, isolation, annoyance, difficulty concentrating, absenteeism, and accidents. Hearing loss is exhausting. It takes a lot for the person with this condition to constantly try to keep up with the world around them. This stress and tension is what often causes people with untreated hearing loss to withdrawal from the rest of the world. The slow decline in their mood happens with isolation and when they fail to recognize that many of the mistakes and concentration issues that they are having result from undetected hearing loss.

Improving hearing improves quality of life and lessen the risks associated with untreated hearing loss.

3. Health Effects: muscle tension, ulcers, increased blood pressure, hypertension, dementia, and Alzheimer. Cognitive overload is a condition in which a person with untreated hearing loss is mentally fatigued through the extra effort needed to communicate. This can cause a number of stress related problems. In addition, sensory input form your ears, helps to keep your brain younger and functioning better. Recent studies confirm there is a startling connection between hearing health and brain function. It has been shown that the greater the hearing loss the greater the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's and dementia.

Today's evidence consistently points to the need for all people to take their hearing health seriously. An annual hearing evaluation should be a necessary part of every individual’s life. Routine visits are covered by most insurance carriers.


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