Everyone wants to stay youthful for as long as possible. We spend countless hours trying everything possible to stay young. From specialized diets to fad workout programs to Botox to wrinkle creams. Still, with all that time and effort, we have a tendency to avoid doing one simple thing that could actually work: wearing ear protection.
Hearing impairment is often one of those “signs of aging” that we tend to consider to be inevitable. But it’s not that simple. You can keep your hearing in great condition and help avoid damage by safeguarding and caring for your ears. And as time goes by, strong hearing can have considerable anti-aging advantages.
Aging And Hearing
When we discuss “aging” we don’t usually mean the actual passing of time. Instead, “aging” typically refers to the presentation of certain emotional, mental, or physical attributes that we link to getting older. A great example of this is pain in your joints. You may associate sore knees, for instance, with “growing old”. But it’s not age by itself that leads to the problem (your daily 5-mile run may have something to do with it, too).
The same will also apply to many types of hearing loss. As you age, damage builds up. And in most circumstances, it’s the build-up of damage that leads to the actual hearing degeneration. And that’s when things can begin to snowball. Several other indications of aging have been linked to hearing loss:
- Sometimes, problems such as insomnia and memory loss, can be initiated by the mental strain of trying to hear. And that can make you feel like you’re getting old in a particularly intense way.
- Depression and anxiety have been demonstrated to have a significant connection to hearing loss.
- Untreated hearing loss may cause you to isolate yourself from family or friends.
- When hearing impairments are undetected and untreated they can often accelerate the onset of other mental health issues, including dementia.
So How do I Combat Age-Related Hearing Loss?
You’re really emphasizing damage prevention when you battle the “signs of aging” in your ears. And it’s fortunate that we can achieve that in a number of ways. Here are a few things you can do:
- Become more aware. You can still have damage to your hearing even if sounds are not painfully loud. Moderate sound for extended durations can cause damage to your ears, too.
- If you happen to work in a relatively noisy setting, wear hearing protection. With modern high quality ear muffs, loud noises are eliminated while you can still hear people talking clearly.
- Steer clear of loud noises as much as possible. If you have to expose yourself to loud noise, wear hearing protection. So when you go see that concert with your favorite band, be sure to use earplugs.
All of these actions will help protect your hearing. But in order to keep your hearing in good shape you can do one more thing: contact us for a hearing test. Making sure you get hearing tests regularly can help you discover hearing loss before it’s even recognizable. Even if your hearing is perfectly fine, a screening will still be capable of providing a useful baseline to compare against future results.
Keep Your Hearing Healthy by Wearing Hearing Aids
The world we live in can be loud. In spite of your best effort to take care of your hearing, you still might ultimately detect some hearing loss. If that’s the case, it’s vital that you seek help as soon as you can. A good set of hearing aids can help counter some of the so-called age-related issues related to hearing impairments.
Hearing aids can assist your hearing to function more youthfully, sort of like a facelift for your ears. And that can help keep depression, dementia, and other problems from increasing. This example only goes so far since a facelift is cosmetic and hearing aids are necessary. Wrinkle creams could help you look younger. But if you actually want to combat aging and feel a bit more youthful, your best choice is to safeguard your ears and treat your hearing loss.