You’re supposed to use your hearing aids every day. But you’re also supposed to wash out your milk jugs before you recycle them. We don’t always do what we’re supposed to. So yeah, you forget to take your hearing aids out of the nightstand drawer occasionally. You might even forget to wear it for more than a day.
That isn’t a very smart idea. Because when you don’t use your hearing aids a number of things happen and some things already developing get worse. And most of them, honestly, aren’t very good.
Effects And Consequences of Not Using Your Hearing Aids
There will be consequences of varying degrees of intensity and severity, both to your health and social life, if you fail to wear your hearing aid. The effects and repercussions of failing to use your hearing aids could include the following.
Your Degree of Hearing Impairment Will Get Worse
The technology of hearing aids is rather impressive. Not only do they allow you to hear sounds that you otherwise wouldn’t have, but they also keep your auditory complex running efficiently (that’s the region of your brain responsible for interpreting sounds).
If you “forget” to wear your hearing aids and, instead, crank your TV up to an even higher volume, you may be doing further damage to your hearing. Even if you’re keeping the volumes under control, problems with your brain can result from missing sensory input. (It actually shrinks.) So if you don’t use your hearing aids, your hearing will most likely keep getting worse (so you’ll need even more powerful hearing aids before long).
It Will Become More Challenging to Engage Socially
You know when you go to the store and you get into a short conversation with the cashier? Those conversations are nice. In a world of technology, these little chats are a touch of humanity.
These day-to-day social connections suddenly become really difficult when you don’t wear your hearing aids. You frequently miss parts of the conversation and need to ask people to repeat what they said. Over and over. And after that, the conversation just quickly becomes strained. That might not sound serious but each time a scenario like this occurs, you will tend to disengage socially more and more. And that can cause even more substantial problems.
Hearing Aids And Cognitive Decline
Your brain doesn’t get close to as much exercise when you seclude yourself. Think about how revitalized (or exhausted) you can feel after a good chat or an enjoyable evening dinner with your family. Certain cognitive functions can begin to decline or decline faster without this exercise. This could mean:
- Memory issues
- Declines in productivity or energy
- Balance troubles
- Depression
But there’s more. Because hearing sound is vitally essential to certain regions of your nervous system and brain. Your auditory complex starts to atrophy when certain nerves begin to weaken from lack of stimulus. This can lead to an even more rapid mental decline (or, even in the best-case scenario, make adjusting to your hearing aids even harder).
Your brain stays happy, stimulated, and active when you use hearing aids.
Losing The Ability to be Independent
Needing a little more help, as you age, is not abnormal. Maybe you ask a family member to go shopping for you or a neighbor to do some yard work. If you aren’t wearing your hearing aid, you could be speeding up the loss of independence that frequently comes with aging.
You can miss phone calls or lose parts of conversations with your neighbor when you don’t wear your hearing aids. It’s possible that you will miss important alerts. Maybe you fail to hear your dog barking when there’s somebody at the door or your cat meowing at 6 am when he needs food.
Is There Any Solution?
Wearing a hearing aid is not going to solve all of life’s issues, regardless of how technologically inventive those little gadgets get. But they will solve many problems associated with not wearing your hearing aids.
You should come see us for help if you’re having problems with your hearing aids or if they are uncomfortable.
It’s worth taking a little time to consider what the repercussions will be if you avoid using your hearing aids and also what the benefits of wearing them may be.
References
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/otolaryngology/specialty_areas/hearing/faq.html
https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20140128/hearing-loss-tied-to-faster-brain-shrinkage-with-age
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation