Aging can be a beautiful thing, especially when you address health issues before they get to dangerous levels. We can’t account for everything that will come our way as we age, but keeping up with regular issues can go a long way. Just by making sure you eat a vegetable rich diet and stay active can make a world of difference. Have you ever thought how hearing health affects every other area of your total health? Unfortunately, not that many people do, however, each year we age, the risk of hearing loss goes up.
This March 3rd is World Hearing Day, an international campaign led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness and promote treatment around hearing loss. In the US alone, hearing loss is the third most common chronic issue affecting people 70 and older. Even by the age of 65, one in three struggles with this condition and by the time we reach 75 half of us will have hearing loss. This March 3rd, if you are 60 years or older, we urge you to join in on this world celebration of health, by taking a hearing test.
The Importance of Treatment
For years the health effects of hearing loss have been downplayed by insurance companies in the US who wish to keep hearing aids as an elective treatment. However, the risks of hearing loss are incredibly serious.
Hearing Issues are Communication Issues
Issues with hearing are communication issues and this not only affects your ability to socialize not just with friend’s family and loved ones but in professional settings as well. At home, chronic communication issues caused by hearing loss will lead to a buildup of resentment between family members, significant others, and friends. Common struggles over the volume of the TV, miscommunications and having to ask people to repeat themselves can make loved ones feel as if you are not paying attention to them. Hearing loss is not going to go away on its own and in fact over years can continue to get worse. If no intervention is taken, rifts in relationships can start to build up into feelings of resentment, depression, self-isolation, and loneliness.
In a professional setting, communication issues start to affect other reliance on you. As miscommunications start to build up into mistakes and economic losses, it can decrease your likelihood of moving up. Promotions go missed and raises are denied. The Better Hearing Institute projects that people with untreated hearing loss stand to lose $30,000 annually in earnings, in comparison with their contemporaries with normal hearing or who choose to treat their hearing loss.
Hearing Loss: A Safety Concern
Hearing loss is not just about communication but a way in which we connect to the world. We use hearing with two ears to help us map out sounds in our environment. When we struggle to hear it diminishes our ability to locate sound which lowers our reaction time and puts us at risk for more falls and accidents which lead to hospitalizations. For older adults, a fall is often the first event in a shift of health which can lead to steady decline in mobility and quality of life.
The Importance of Treatment
While hearing loss is an irreversible condition, it can be treated. The most common treatment is hearing aids. The fantastic technologically advanced hearing aids of today are nothing like what your grandparents may have worn. Today’s hearing aids are digital marvels in miniaturization and power, enhancing hearing so you can communicate with the people in your life you love and continue to lead the way with knowledge and experience in your workplace. When you invest in hearing aids, you are investing in your relationships, your employment, and your physical health.
Check Your Hearing on March 3rd
WHO projects that currently 466 million people worldwide struggle with hearing loss and this number is projected to double to around 900 million in the next 30 years if changes don’t happen on sweeping levels towards understanding the risks of hearing loss and importance of prevention and treatment. The first step in the fight against world hearing loss is scheduling a hearing exam. Contact us today. A change in the world can start with you! It is that simple.