You’re supposed to wear your hearing aids every day. But before you recycle your milk jugs, you’re supposed to wash them out too. We don’t always do what we’re supposed to. The same goes for hearing aids. Sometimes we forget to take them with us. You might even forget to use it for more than one day.
That’s not good. Because there are a number of things that happen (or continue to happen) when you don’t wear your hearing aids. And, honestly, most of them are rather negative.
Effects And Repercussions of Going Without Hearing Aids
Much of what occurs when you don’t wear your hearing aids will impact both your hearing health and your social life, each with varying levels of severity and intensity. Here are a few of those effects and repercussions.
Your Level of Hearing Impairment Will Worsen
Hearing aids are remarkable devices. 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 part of your brain responsible for interpreting sounds).
You could damage your hearing even more if, instead of wearing your hearing aids, you start cranking up the volume on your devices even louder than they already are. Even if you’re keeping the volumes under control, problems with your brain can result from the lack of sensory stimuli. (It actually shrinks.) So if you don’t use your hearing aids, your hearing will likely continue to get worse (which means you’ll need even more powerful hearing aids in the near future).
It Will Become More Difficult to Interact Socially
You know when you go to the market and you get into a short discussion with the cashier? Those conversations are pleasant. A nice little bit of humanity in a technological world.
When you don’t wear your hearing aids, these basic social interactions can quickly become much more difficult. You frequently miss parts of the conversation and need to ask people to repeat themselves. Over and over. And once that happens, the conversation just quickly falls apart. That may not sound significant but each time a scenario like this happens, you will tend to retreat socially more and more. And the consequences can be even more significant.
Hearing Aids And Mental Decline
When you isolate yourself socially, your brain gets much less exercise. After you have a pleasant conversation with your family, think about how revitalized (or exhausted) you can feel. Certain cognitive functions can begin to decline or decline faster without this exercise. This could mean:
- Balance troubles
- Declines in productivity or energy
- Depression
- Memory problems
But that’s not all. Because there are particular parts of your brain and nervous system that thrive on hearing sounds. Your auditory complex starts to atrophy when certain nerves begin to weaken from lack of stimulus. This can make it harder to adapt to your new hearing aids and in the worst case accelerate the cognitive decline.
Your brain remains happy, stimulated, and engaged when you use hearing aids.
Losing The Ability to be Independent
Needing a bit more help, as you get older, is not uncommon. Perhaps you get a neighbor to mow your lawn or ask your daughter to swing by with groceries more often. You are likely to accelerate your loss of independence if you’re not using your hearing aids.
When you don’t use your hearing aids, it can rapidly become more difficult to answer the phone or have a conversation with your neighbor. It’s possible that you will miss important alerts. Perhaps you don’t hear your dog barking when there’s somebody at the door or your cat meowing in the morning when he’s hungry.
Is There Any Solution?
No matter how technologically sophisticated hearing aids get, they won’t solve all of life’s problems. But they will solve a lot of the problems related to not wearing your hearing aids.
You need to come see us for assistance if you’re having issues with your hearing aids or if they’re uncomfortable.
But if you’re looking for reasons to refrain from using your hearing aids, if you’re just leaving them in the nightstand drawer, it’s worth taking a little time to reflect on what may be gained by wearing them… and what could happen if you don’t wear your hearing aids.
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
