Are you finding it’s hard to hear your loved ones this holiday season? Are you missing jokes or parts of the conversation and laughing along, pretending to hear? While this may seem to calm issues at first, over time it can lead to you feeling isolated and constantly confused in social situations with friends, family, and even in professional settings. New Year is just around the bend and it’s a great time to make some resolutions. What a better time to take the leap and resolve to test your hearing in 2022. Here are just a few reasons why screening your hearing is a great way to start the New Year!
Improve Your Relationships
It’s hard to self-diagnose hearing, most likely because it can often develop slowly over years. At first, it may be hard to hear only certain tones or pitches, but gradually it can be difficult to follow everyday conversation. This affects the people closest to you. Your friends may feel like you are detached or seem disinterested when they are speaking to you. Everyday misunderstandings start to compound into real resentment. This particularly takes a toll on intimate relationships, such as a significant other.
These relationships often span decades and still, they are not immune to the rifts which an unaddressed hearing loss can cause. Even the most stable relationships can start to feel unsettled due to a hearing loss and in some cases can lead to separation. It can be incredibly lonely living with hearing loss and often the person with healthy hearing feels just as alone. The good news is that you don’t have to let it get to this point. While hearing loss is most often permanent, it can be treated with hearing aids or cochlear implants. These tiny electronic devices amplify the specific sounds in which you struggle so you won’t have to strain to hear the people closest in your life.
Improve your Professional Success
Investing in hearing aids this year promises not only to improve your relationships at home and on a personal level but can affect your success at work as well. Many people state that the price of hearing aids alone keeps them from even attending a hearing test. However, the Better Hearing Institute (BHI) reports that the average loss in earnings due to hearing loss comes to $30,000 annually per individual with unaddressed hearing issues. While hearing aids may seem expensive at first, it’s important to remember that in the long term they can save you a lot of money. In industrial work environments, t’s all too easy to miss important sounds which can affect not only your safety at work but the safety of your co-workers. In-office settings simple misunderstandings and misunderstood instructions add up to the point where co-workers cease to rely on you. Over time there is no doubt that your co-workers and employers will notice and sadly this comes in the form of missed promotions, raises, and professional opportunities. The good news is that investing in hearing aids now can put a stop to this – especially if you treat it now.
Increased Energy
Straining to hear what other people say all day not only can make you feel isolated, chronically anxious, and depressed, it can also take a toll on your energy level. It takes a lot of energy to hear when you have a hearing impairment. This is sometimes called listening fatigue. You may miss only parts of words or sentences and your brain works overtime to fill in the gaps. This not only can leave someone feeling exhausted but can also cause cognitive decline. Over time, when hearing loss is not treated, depending on the severity, can increase the likeliness of developing dementia. The good news is that resolving to treat your hearing in 2022, can greatly decrease this risk. A study from Johns Hopkins University suggests that wearing hearing aids can decrease the risk of developing dementia by nearly 75%!
New Year’s Resolution for Healthier Hearing
Often people make resolutions on the New Year and they feel so big and daunting that they don’t ever get to be realized. The important thing to remember is that a resolution happens in small steps. In the case of hearing loss, the first step is to schedule a hearing exam. It’s easy – schedule a hearing exam today and start your journey towards a healthier hearing in 2022.