The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that, “One in eight people in the United States (13 percent, or 30 million) aged 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears, based on standard hearing examinations.” Yet despite how common hearing loss is, only one in five people who could benefit from hearing aids actually wears them, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America.
If you have hearing loss and haven’t yet sought treatment, it’s not too late to start experiencing the many benefits hearing aids have to offer. We review some of them below.
Better Communication
One of the more obvious benefits of wearing hearing aids is you’ll be able to communicate better with them than you can without them. This is because hearing aids work by turning up the volume of sounds around you, including your conversation partner’s voice at the Five07 in Thousand Oaks.
Improved Balance
Because both the hearing and balance systems are housed within the inner ear, damage to one system often means there is damage to the other as well. As such, hearing loss and balance problems often occur together. Research by Johns Hopkins even found that people with untreated hearing loss have three times a greater risk of experiencing a fall. Wearing hearing aids can allow you to use sound to orient yourself in space as well as keep you more aware of your surroundings, preventing a fall.
Increased Cognitive Health
More research by Johns Hopkins uncovered a strong link between untreated hearing loss and cognitive decline. In fact, “Compared with volunteers with normal hearing, those with mild, moderate, and severe hearing loss had twofold, threefold, and fivefold, respectively, the risk of developing dementia over time. The more hearing loss they had, the higher their likelihood of developing the memory-robbing disease.” Hearing aids can keep you social and your brain active, helping to prevent this condition.
For more information about the many benefits of hearing aids or to schedule an appointment with a hearing aid expert, call Decibel Hearing Services today.