Question: How many years have you promised yourself that “next year, I’ll get my hearing checked”? We’ve noticed that many patients find it easy to put off treating hearing loss, even when they know they have hearing issues. Since hearing loss happens so gradually, patients often don’t notice just how severe their hearing difficulties have become, and how they’ve unconsciously adjusted their daily routines to accommodate their hearing loss.
Decreased Interest in Hobbies
Many popular hobbies rely on our sense of hearing. And that’s not just listening-heavy hobbies; all hobbies are sensory in some way, so your sense of hearing will deepen your enjoyment whether it’s birding or crocheting, playing sports or working in your garden, making music or baking.
If you’ve been experiencing less joy in your hobbies lately, it’s because your diminished sense of hearing is affecting your hobby. Engaging in hobbies is shown to contribute to mental health in a myriad of ways, so if untreated hearing loss is causing you to engage with your hobby less often, it can affect your mental health.
Not Going Out By Yourself
Hearing loss is very closely tied to personal independence—your ability to carry out the activities of daily life on your own. Solo activities like driving, grocery shopping or even just going for a walk in your neighborhood get harder with hearing loss. Have you been needing someone else to accompany you for these tasks? Or have you been feeling more anxious whenever you’re out and about on your own? That’s a way you’re compensating for hearing loss, perhaps without even noticing.
Declining Invitations
Socializing with hearing loss is incredibly hard. You might mishear words or miss them entirely, feel like everyone is mumbling or be unable to focus on people speaking for a long time. All that effort is tiring, embarrassing and frustrating. To avoid this, many patients start declining invitations for parties, get-togethers and events. While this will, in the short term, save you some frustration, it can ultimately lead to a sense of isolation and loneliness.
Accommodating Clumsiness
Have you ever noticed that you’re a little bit clumsier if you can’t hear? Hearing and balance are deeply intertwined. Our sense of hearing is critical to how we orient ourselves and maintain situational and bodily awareness. Plus, the inner ear is home to both our hearing system and our balance, or vestibular, system, so conditions that affect one will frequently affect the other. If you’ve been reaching out to catch yourself on furniture, avoiding activities that require balance—like walking or hiking—or felt anxious whenever you’re on uneven terrain, that’s another way untreated hearing loss is sneakily affecting your daily life.
How Treating Hearing Loss Helps
We’ve discussed ways that hearing loss can indirectly affect your mental health, personal independence, social network and bodily awareness. The good news? Treating hearing loss will have a positive effect on all those things. Wearing hearing aids will help you enjoy your hobbies, maintain your independence, socialize with confidence and feel more stable on your feet.
No more “next years”—call us today to discuss treating your hearing loss.