Currently, there are millions of Americans who haven’t sought treatment for their hearing loss. If you are one of them, let’s look at several ways that using hearing aids can improve your daily life.
Four Big Benefits of Using Hearing Aids
- Feel more at ease in social situations. Hearing loss makes it harder to communicate with others because it makes speech harder to understand. Hearing aids can help your brain process sounds more easily. This makes everything from talking with your spouse over breakfast to catching up with friends over dinner at Second Set Bistro less stressful and more enjoyable.
- Have more confidence at work. Not being able to hear well at work can make your job considerably more stressful. You might struggle to follow what’s being said during a meeting or conference call or worry about misunderstanding something during an important assignment. Using hearing aids can help dispel those fears and let you focus on the task at hand.
- Feel less lonely. Many people who don’t treat their hearing loss begin to isolate themselves from others because socializing becomes too difficult or frustrating. This can lead to feelings of loneliness. Thankfully, research has shown hearing aids can help reduce these feelings. A 2016 study surveyed older adults with hearing loss both before and after getting hearing aids and found that users experienced “a significant decline in perceptions of loneliness following 4 to 6 weeks of hearing aid use.”
- Improve your health. Untreated hearing loss can increase your risk of several different health conditions. These include anxiety and depression, balance issues, as well as cognitive decline and dementia. Using hearing aids can help reduce your risk of all these conditions and lead a healthier, more active life.
When To Get a Hearing Test
The earlier you treat your hearing loss, the better. If you’ve noticed that you have trouble following conversations or need to turn the volume on the TV up louder than you used to, make an appointment for a hearing test. Your audiologist can quickly assess whether or not you have hearing loss and how severe it is and help you find the right pair of hearing aids to meet your specific needs and preferences.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call Western Montana Hearing and Speech today.