Are you amazed to learn that hearing loss is about more than just your ears? Ears are the tools of hearing, so the harm done to them due to aging, trauma or disease is why someone can’t hear, but did you know there’s more to it than that The loss of a person’s hearing bleeds into many other aspects of their life. It’s a dramatic change for somebody who has always had the ability to hear. Take some ways that hearing loss has a profound effect on more than just the ears.
Earning Potential
A 2006 report released by the Australian company Access Economics states there’s a connection between salary potential and hearing. They discovered that an individual with hearing loss could possibly make about 25 percent less than those that do listen, but why?
There are many things that could affect earnings. Someone who works without any hearing assistance device such as a hearing aid may miss out on weighty information. They may show up for a business meeting at 4 if it was actually at 2 pm, for example. Employers tend to value those with keen attention to detail, and that’s a challenge when you can not hear the specifics.
Work environments can be noisy and crazy, too. A person with hearing loss can become confused with all that noise around them. They will struggle to talk on the telephone, to listen to customers and to understand what colleagues are saying because in a noisy environment the background sounds like clacking keyboards or an air conditioner motor become pronounced.
Relationships
Some of the same problems at work become a problem at home. Hearing loss has the potential to cause conflict, particularly when the person with the problem continues to deny it. Little things such as saying “what” a lot during discussions and turning the TV up too loud irritate friends, relatives, and spouses.
They may try to intervene and encourage this individual to recognize their hearing loss, and that leads to friction, as well. It is extremely common for people with hearing loss to detach themselves and refuse to go out and spend some time with other people. They struggle to keep up with conversations, so they so what the can to avoid them.
Mental Health Concerns
The issues at work and house take a toll on mental health over time. A 2014 study performed by the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders found a cause and effect relationship between hearing loss and melancholy. Their research indicates an increased risk of depression, particularly among girls and people under the age of 70. Their risk of depression goes from 5 percent to approximately 11 percent with hearing loss.
A second study from the Senior Research Group indicates that the risk of mental health issues including depression, anxiety and paranoia goes up when a individual with hearing loss does not use hearing aids. The study participants who didn’t wear hearing aids reported everything from feelings of sadness to sudden fits of anger more frequently than those that did wear them.
Safety Issues
Safety is always a concern for the hearing impaired. Most security systems, whether it is a smoke or carbon monoxide detector or a perimeter alarm, work based on noise. They exude a high-frequency noise when there is a danger. Even people with minor hearing loss can have trouble hearing high pitched tones.
Personal security becomes an issue when a person with hearing loss crosses the road or drives a car, too. Sound serves to indicate problems like a car coming down the road or a horn honking.
Cognitive Functioning
Medical science has made a link between cognitive decline and hearing loss. It isn’t clear why people with hearing loss have a greater risk of dementia. The current theory is that the brain struggles to hear and to compensate, it robs other vital functions like memory.
A 2011 study conducted by Johns Hopkins Medicine discovered that a person with minor hearing loss is twice as likely to develop dementia. Moderate hearing loss increases the risk by three times and a person with severe hearing impairment is five times more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Hearing health is just one factor in memory loss conditions, but it is an important one.
When someone has hearing loss, it’s true there’s probably something wrong with their ears, but that’s just where it begins. The fantastic news is that getting help in the form of hearing aids and other treatment choices lowers the chance of mental health problems, dementia and the various issues associated with hearing decline.
