Putting off on important appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amongst the hustle and bustle of day-to-day events. You may even find yourself hesitating to order hearing aids altogether. However, delaying treatment for hearing loss is a lot more than just a misstep concerning your ears alone.
The connection to cognitive decline
A clear connection between cognitive decline and untreated hearing loss has been established by scientists and researchers. This underscores the crucial importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have negative effects on your mental function also.
Hearing loss will worsen if it goes untreated
If you care about the health of your hearing, it’s important to never neglect any symptoms of hearing loss. You unintentionally cause more damage to your hearing if you put off on getting a hearing examination or hearing aids if you need them.
The development of your hearing loss will be accelerated if you continuously need to crank up the volume on your devices. Hearing aids can amplify particular frequencies of sound thereby delaying the development of hearing loss.
The link to cognitive function
Your brain and your hearing are intricately connected. Mental function can be seriously impacted by untreated hearing loss according to some substantial research. Over time, cognitive decline can be worsened by depression and anxiety caused by social isolation.
Also, the recovery of healthy hearing function can be complicated because untreated hearing loss will force the brain to adjust by reallocating mental resources from other functions, such as visual processes, over to auditory processes.
Navigating neuroplasticity
In this situation, neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, can be both a friend and a foe. While it allows for flexibility and recovery, extended untreated hearing loss can lead to considerable rewiring of the brain, making it difficult to return to previous functionality.
But it is possible to reverse this effect. In both the short and the long term, utilizing hearing aids can bring significant benefits even if you’ve held off on getting treatment for some time.
Give us a call for an appointment
While timely treatment is ideal, it’s never too late to deal with hearing loss. If you’re ready to enjoy improved hearing and stronger cognitive function, call us today for an assessment!
