You’re supposed to use your hearing aids every day. But you’re also supposed to rinse out your milk containers before you recycle them. We don’t always do what we’re supposed to. It’s the same for hearing aids. Sometimes we forget to take them with us. You might even forget to wear it for more than one day.
That’s not great. Because there are numerous things that happen (or continue to happen) when you don’t wear your hearing aids. And the majority of them, honestly, aren’t good.
Effects And Consequences of Going Without Hearing Aids
Much of what occurs when you fail to wear your hearing aids will impact both your hearing health and your social life, each with varying degrees of severity and intensity. Here are some of those effects and repercussions.
Your Level of Hearing Impairment Will Get Worse
The technology of hearing aids is rather impressive. Not only do they let you hear sounds that you normally wouldn’t have, but they also keep your auditory complex working efficiently (that’s the part of your brain responsible for the interpretation of sounds).
You could damage your hearing even more if, instead of using your hearing aids, you begin turning the volume up on your devices even louder than they already are. Even if you’re not raising the volume, the missing sensory input results in issues with your brain. (It actually shrinks.) So you will probably wind up needing more powerful hearing aids in the future if you fail to wear your current pair because your hearing will continue to get worse.
Social Interactions Will Become More Stressful (And Less Consistent)
You know those short conversations you have with the cashier as you’re checking out at the supermarket? Those conversations are nice. A nice little touch of humanity in a technological world.
These normal social interactions suddenly become very difficult when you don’t wear your hearing aids. You need to ask the cashier to repeat himself. Again and again. And after that, the conversation just quickly falls apart. Perhaps that sounds trivial, but every bit you retreat into yourself makes it that much easier to entirely isolate yourself socially. And that can lead to even more substantial issues.
Hearing Aids And Mental Decline
When you seclude yourself socially, your brain gets a lot less exercise. After you have a nice conversation with your family, think about how invigorated (or exhausted) you can feel. Certain cognitive functions can begin to decline or decline faster without this exercise. This could mean:
- Balance troubles
- Memory issues
- Depression
- Declines in productivity or energy
But that’s not the entire picture. Because there are certain parts of your brain and nervous system that need to hear sounds. Your auditory complex starts to atrophy when certain nerves begin to weaken from lack of stimulation. This can make it harder to get used to your new hearing aids and in the worst case accelerate the cognitive decline.
Hearing aids keep your brain active, stimulated, and happy (for the most part).
Loss of Independence
It’s not uncommon, as you age, to need a bit more help. Perhaps you get a family member to go to the store for you or a neighbor to do some yard work. If you aren’t using your hearing aid, you could be expediting the loss of independence that frequently comes with aging.
When you don’t use your hearing aids, it can quickly become harder to answer the phone or talk with your neighbor. It’s possible that you will miss important alerts. Perhaps you don’t hear your cat meowing for food at night or your dog barking at somebody ringing your doorbell.
Is There Any Solution?
Wearing a hearing aid is not going to solve all of life’s issues, regardless of how technologically inventive those little gadgets get. But they will solve many problems related to not using your hearing aids.
You need to come see us for assistance if you’re having problems with your hearing aids or if they’re not comfortable.
It’s worth taking some time to think about what the consequences will be if you avoid using your hearing aids and also what the advantages of wearing them might be.
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References
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/otolaryngology/specialty_areas/hearing/faq.html
https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20140128/hearing-loss-tied-to-faster-brain-shrinkage-with-age
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation