Over the years, hearing aids have had a stigma. If you use one, people might think of you as old. What is the result?
Countless people, both old and young, decide against hearing aids and suffer needlessly from hearing loss, which is actually connected to numerous health problems. The numbers back this up: 30 million individuals in the United States suffering from hearing loss, yet only around 15 percent of that group has ever used a hearing aid.
At the same time, an increasing number of young people are dealing with hearing loss: a WHO report from 2015 forecasted that 1.1 billion teens and young adults would damage their hearing irreparably due to over the top use of headphones and louder and louder music festivals.
However, developing technology and shifting attitudes have begun to frame hearing aids in a new light, and people are beginning to look at them in a similar way they view eye-glasses.
Why You Should 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 some of the most common reasons:
- You can enjoy social activities and settings again
- You can lessen tinnitus symptoms
- You’re brain won’t have to work so hard
- You’ll be able to earn more money
- You can listen to television and music at normal volumes
- You’ll be able to hear better (As we said, there were some obvious ones on this list)
- Conversations will be much smoother
Do these seem like beneficial reasons to you? Some advantage can be gained by wearing hearing aids even for people with minor hearing loss.
What many people don’t know is that hearing loss is linked to cognitive decline, mental health problems, and conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Research points to a number of different reasons why this may happen, including that the brain becomes overtaxed and overtired because it’s always trying to comprehend sounds. It’s possible that the brain cells shrink and die because they don’t get enough stimulus, or it might be related to social isolation, which is a major cause of depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems.
By letting you hear words and sounds around you more clearly, hearing aids can help alleviate these problems. Your brain won’t need to use extra resources and will be capable of processing sounds in a normal way, while you will begin to enjoy conversations and social activities again because you will have a boost in confidence.
Hearing Aids Have Advanced in Technology
By now it should be obvious why people of all ages should use hearing aids if they require them. Now we’re going to tell you about the how; for example, how hearing aid technology has progressed to the point where they’re nothing like your grandparents’ hearing aids.
If really want one of those big over the ear hearing aids, you can still buy one. They do their task adequately and have advanced to the point where the majority of them don’t have a problem filtering out background sounds such as wind or determining what direction sound comes from. Conversely, there are new and improved versions of hearing aids that are almost invisible, yet contain quite a bit of technology to work with today’s digital world.
Is connecting your hearing aids to your Bluetooth devices such as your tv, cellphone, or tablet something you would like to do? Then you’re in luck since many modern hearing aids come equipped with Bluetooth technology that allows them to connect to a range of devices. There are even higher-end models that can stream music, keep track of your physical activity, and automatically take and make phone calls for you. Hearing aids nowadays are made to do more – just like your smartphone and smartwatch, smart hearing aids will come to be a must-have accessory for anyone who has hearing loss. Are you ready to deal with hearing loss and buy yourself a hearing aid? Contact us to discover what kind of hearing aid will work best for you.