Over the years, hearing aids have carried a stigma. Some people simply associate them with aging. What is the result?
Many people of all ages put themselves in danger of a number of health problems because they forgo getting hearing aids and decide to live with hearing loss. The numbers reinforce this: 30 million people in the US dealing with hearing loss, yet only about 15 percent of that population has ever worn a hearing aid.
Also, more and more young people are addressing hearing loss: a WHO report from 2015 predicted that excessive use of headphones and overly loud concert events and festivals will cause over 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults to permanently injure their hearing.
However, changing attitudes and sophisticated technology have given hearing aids a new outlook, and pretty soon they’ll be in the same class as eye-glasses – and contact lenses, for that matter.
Why Should You Wear Hearing Aids
There are a ton of reasons why you should use hearing aids, some of them are surprising and some are obvious.
Here are several of the most common reasons:
- You’ll have the ability to earn more money
- You’ll give your brain a break
- You can enjoy social activities and situations again
- One of the obvious reasons is that you will be able to hear better
- You won’t have as hard a time having conversations
- You can lessen tinnitus symptoms
- You won’t have to turn the TV or music up
Are these reasons sounding good to you? Even someone with mild hearing damage can find some benefit from wearing hearing aids.
What many people don’t know is that hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline, mental health problems, and conditions such as Alzheimers disease and dementia.
This could occur for a few different reasons based on research, including that the brain becomes overtaxed and overtired because it’s always striving to comprehend sounds. It could be that the brain cells don’t receive enough stimulation so they shrink and die, or it could be associated with social isolation, which is a major cause of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
By letting you hear words and sounds around you more clearly, hearing aids can help lessen these problems. Your brain can then process these sounds as it ordinarily would without needing to use additional resources, while you will start to enjoy conversations and social activities again because you will gain more confidence.
Technological Advances in Hearing Aids
By now it should be apparent why people of all ages should use hearing aids if they need them. Now we’re going to talk about the how; as in, how hearing aid technology has progressed to the point where they’re no longer your grandparents’ hearing aids.
The cumbersome, over-the-ear hearing aids are still available for the people who like them. They perform their function acceptably and have advanced to the point where most of them have no problem filtering out background noises such as wind or determining what direction sound is coming from. However, there are new and improved versions of hearing aids that are almost invisible, yet contain quite a lot of technology to work with today’s digital environment.
Do you want to connect your hearing aid to your smartphone, tablet, television, or even your car’s GPS? Most contemporary hearing aids have Bluetooth technology so you’re in luck. There are even higher-end models keep track of your physical health, stream music, and take calls for you. Hearing aids nowadays are designed to do more – just like your smartphone and smartwatch, smart hearing aids will come to be a must-have accessory for anybody who has hearing impairment. Are you ready to face hearing loss and buy yourself a hearing aid? Get in touch with us to find out what type of hearing aid will be the right one for you.