You’re supposed to use your hearing aids daily. 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. So yeah, you forget to take your hearing aids out of their storage container occasionally. You might even forget to wear it for more than a day.
That’s not good. Because when you don’t use your hearing aids several things occur and some things already happening get worse. And the majority of them, to be honest, aren’t very good.
Effects And Repercussions of Not Using Your Hearing Aids
Much of what happens when you fail to use your hearing aids will impact both your hearing health and your social life, each with varying levels of severity and intensity. The effects and consequences of failing to wear your hearing aids could include the following.
Your Level of Hearing Loss Will Worsen
The technology of hearing aids is fairly impressive. They increase your ability to hear and help keep your auditory complex (the part of the brain that interprets sound) running efficiently.
If you “forget” to wear your hearing aids and, instead, turn up your TV to an even louder volume, you could be doing additional damage to your hearing. Even if you’re not raising the volume, the lack of sensory input results in problems with your brain. (It actually shrinks.) So you will most likely end up needing more powerful hearing aids in the future if you fail to wear your current pair because your hearing will continue to get worse.
It Will Become More Difficult to Interact Socially
You know those short conversations you have with the cashier as you’re cashing out at the supermarket? Those conversations are pleasant. In a world dominated by technology, these little talks are a touch of humanity.
When you don’t use your hearing aids, these basic social interactions can suddenly be a lot more challenging. You need to ask the cashier to repeat what they said. Again and again. And once that happens, the conversation just quickly becomes strained. Perhaps that sounds superficial, but every bit you withdraw into yourself makes it that much easier to entirely separate yourself socially. And the consequences can be even more serious.
Hearing Aids And Cognitive Decline
When you seclude yourself socially, your brain gets a lot less exercise. Think about how revitalized (or exhausted) you can feel after a good chat or a pleasant evening dinner with your family. Without that exercise, particular mental processes can begin to decline (or decline faster). This could mean:
- Depression
- Memory problems
- Balance troubles
- Declines in productivity or energy
But there’s more. Because there are certain parts of your brain and nervous system that thrive on hearing sounds. Your auditory complex begins to atrophy when certain nerves begin to deteriorate from lack of stimulus. This can make it more difficult to get used to your new hearing aids and in the worst case accelerate the cognitive decline.
Your brain remains happy, stimulated, and active when you use hearing aids.
Losing The Ability to be Independent
It’s not uncommon, as you age, to require a bit more help. Perhaps you hire a neighbor to mow your lawn or ask your son to swing by with groceries more often. If you aren’t wearing your hearing aid, you could be expediting the loss of independence that often comes with aging.
You can miss phone calls or lose parts of conversations with your neighbor when you don’t use your hearing aids. You might miss important weather alerts. Perhaps you don’t hear your cat meowing at night for food or your dog barking at someone ringing your doorbell.
Is There Any Solution?
Wearing a hearing aid won’t solve all of life’s problems, regardless of how technologically inventive those little devices become. But they will solve a lot of the issues related to 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 wearing your hearing aids and also what the advantages of wearing them might be.
Call Today to Set Up an Appointment
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