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 might not even get around to shopping for hearing aids at all. However, putting off on treatment for hearing loss is a lot more than just a mistake concerning your ears alone.
Neglected hearing loss can lead to a greater risk of cognitive decline
A clear link between cognitive decline and neglected hearing loss has been established by scientists and researchers. This is one reason why delaying treatment is never a good plan.
The impact on hearing
Obviously, it’s evident that delaying treatment for hearing loss isn’t helpful for maintaining your auditory health. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or delaying the purchase of hearing aids, you unintentionally subject your ears to additional damage.
The progression of your hearing loss will be accelerated if you constantly need to crank up the volume on your devices. Hearing aids can amplify particular frequencies of sound thereby delaying the progression of hearing loss.
The connection to mental function
There’s a direct connection between your sense of hearing and your brain. Research shows that neglected hearing loss can have significant consequences on cognitive function. Over time, mental decline can be exacerbated by depression and anxiety caused by social separation.
Furthermore, prolonged untreated hearing loss causes the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from processing sound to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the restoration of healthy hearing function down the road.
Navigating neuroplasticity
The brain’s phenomenal ability to adapt, known as neuroplasticity, is both a friend and a foe in this situation. While it allows for flexibility and recovery, extended neglected hearing loss can lead to considerable rewiring of the brain, making it challenging to revert to previous functionality.
However, it’s not impossible to undo these effects. 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
While timely treatment is ideal, it’s never too late to deal with hearing loss. Scheduling an appointment with us as soon as you can is important, ensuring you can enjoy better hearing and cognitive function moving forward. Call today!
