Putting off on important appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amongst the hustle and bustle of daily events. You might even find yourself hesitating to get hearing aids altogether. However, delaying treatment for hearing loss is a lot more than just a misstep concerning your ears alone.
Untreated hearing loss can lead to a greater risk of cognitive decline
A clear connection between cognitive decline and neglected hearing loss has been demonstrated by scientists and researchers. This underscores the critical importance of not holding off on treatment, as it can have adverse effects on your mental function too.
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 inadvertently cause more harm to your hearing if you put off on getting a hearing test or hearing aids if you need them.
You might find yourself constantly increasing the volume on your various devices, exacerbating the damage to your ears and accelerating the development of hearing loss. Hearing aids can boost particular frequencies of sound thereby slowing down the progression of hearing loss.
The link to mental function
Your brain and your hearing are closely linked. Mental function can be severely impacted by neglected hearing loss according to some substantial research. Over time, mental decline can be exacerbated by depression and anxiety caused by social isolation.
Furthermore, long-term neglected hearing loss prompts the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from processing sound to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the recovery of normal hearing function later on.
Navigating neuroplasticity
In this situation, neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, can be both a friend and a foe. The brain will have a difficult time reverting back to its previous state after it rewires itself to accommodate for extended untreated hearing loss.
But it is possible to reverse this effect. In both the short and the long term, using hearing aids can bring considerable benefits even if you’ve put off on getting treatment for some time.
Set up an appointment with a hearing specialist
You should obviously find treatment as soon as possible, but even if you’ve delayed for a while, it’s not too late to get help. Scheduling an appointment with us as soon as possible is important, ensuring you can enjoy better hearing and cognitive function going forward. Call today!
