Hearing loss is a very big challenge for everyone who faces the gradual decline of one of their senses. Not being able to hear things around you, coming towards you or who is saying what is very concerning. The most evident is the lack of cognitive cohesion.
Since you are lacking one of the most crucial information collecting sources of your anatomy, it can quickly mean that your quality of life is affected. We all know about hearing aids, different kinds of stress control techniques, but we hardly ever consider cognitive decline and hearing loss playing a combining factor. In this article, we’ll explore why this is so important and what can be done about it.
What Do We Mean?
Cognitive decline is not something exclusive to hearing loss. Many people with other conditions such as Alzheimer’s, also experience cognitive decline, as well as those with acute head injuries. Those with hearing loss are more likely to experience cognitive decline, even when their mental faculties have not been affected by any of these things. Why? It’s very complex but also quite interesting.
We rely on our hearing to give us spatial awareness, distance from moving objects such as people or cars, as well as other things that are around us which we cannot see, such as birds or bees. When we no longer have any or correct information coming to our brain, it tends to decline because of lack of use. So, we run into areas of our lives where we may not be able to cross the road safely or be in a public place on our own.
Memories And Emotions
Think about your loving memories, and they almost always have a particular sound or set of noises attached to them. Your memory of going to a grandson’s birthday will have laughter, clapping and talking with your family. When you no longer have good or proper hearing, you don’t make as many memories anymore.
This can lead to a lack of emotions, cognitive decline of events because they don’t imprint on your mind as much. Although at first this may not seem like a big deal, it is. You want to feel attached to something, especially your personal relationships. But when you can no longer put a voice to a face, it becomes hard to be emotionally involved. This is so sad and very frustrating to experience firsthand.
Do Hearing Aids Help?
The jury is still out on this question but there’s no denying that when you can hear better, you at least slow the process of cognitive decline down some. Seeing an audiologist could change your trajectory in this regard and give you much better options for treating your hearing loss.
An audiologist will take their time to figure out how far along with your hearing loss is, why it’s occurring and what can be done about it. Most importantly perhaps to the process, is how well they treat the patient. Taking their time to learn your lifestyle, habits, personality and needs, is all part and parcel of their job.
Hearing aids of all kinds will be tried. There is in-the-ear, in-the-canal and behind-the-ear to name a few. These will be fitted properly to your ears, tested and you’ll be given some time to adjust to their weight, feel and sensitivity.
Being able to hear cars coming, birds chirping and people around you are very useful for your mental wellbeing and cognitive abilities. Something as simple as going grocery shopping won’t be frightening anymore as you won’t bump into people behind you or not be able to pick up on people driving around you.
Keep Conversing
Perhaps the silent worry for many people is, not being able to hold a conversation anymore due to hearing loss. The key is to keep having conversations. You’ll keep your lip-reading skills sharp you won’t feel trapped in silence and you will have that incredibly important basic need of human contact.
Try to pick up on sounds in speech, such as curiosity inflections, monotone sarcasm expressions and recognize accents as you speak with other people. This greatly helps to keep your ears and mind aligned and in full knowledge of speech patterns, styles of speech and more.
Please contact us to know more and ask us any questions that are on your mind concerning this subject. Feel free to call Kampsen Hearing at (813) 369-5692 or go to our website to find more contact options.