Your whole life can be impacted by age-related hearing loss. Besides your ability to hear, your professional life, your social life, and even your cognitive clarity can also be impacted. The way your brain functions, including your memory and mood, can be substantially affected by hearing loss.
Sometimes, the relationship between hearing loss and cognition is subtle. For example, one of the initial symptoms of hearing loss could be forgetfulness, but people rarely think that their memory troubles are associated with a loss of hearing. The unfortunate truth is that hearing loss and memory loss go hand-in-hand.
What’s the connection between memory and hearing loss? Well, hearing loss puts a unique strain on your brain and that’s, at least to some extent, the connection. Usually, when your hearing loss symptoms are successfully managed, your mental abilities will improve.
How hearing loss effects memory
Hearing loss can be difficult to notice. It isn’t uncommon for individuals to miss the more subtle and early signs. Hearing loss might only be identified, for individuals in this category, when it becomes more severe. The development of hearing loss is frequently slow over time and that’s in part why it’s initially hard to notice. It’s often easy to disregard symptoms and, basically, turn up the volume on your television a little more every few days (or weeks).
Another factor is how good the brain is at compensating for loss of sound. You may not notice that it’s becoming more difficult to understand what people are saying as a result. This is advantageous in that you will probably experience fewer interruptions to your daily life. But it takes a substantial amount of brain power to compensate in this way. Here are some consequences of asking your brain to do this over long periods of time.:
- Memory loss or forgetfulness
- Unexplained irritability
- Chronic fatigue
If you’re experiencing these symptoms, we’ll be able to tell you whether the root cause is hearing loss or not. If it’s determined that you’re dealing with hearing loss, we can help you develop the best treatment plan.
Can hearing loss result in memory problems?
Obviously, your brain can be impacted by hearing loss in other ways besides fatigue. Forgetfulness is often a prominent presentation. This is particularly true of untreated hearing loss. The cause and effect relationship is not fully understood, but it’s obvious that there is a relationship between hearing loss and the following issues:
- Increased risk of depression and anxiety: An increase in anxiety and depression due to neglected hearing loss is not uncommon according to numerous studies. And once more, when the root hearing loss has been treated, the risk factor drops significantly.
- Social isolation: It’s not uncommon for individuals to withdraw from social contact when they have neglected hearing loss. They will often avoid conversations and will do things like going to self-checkout instead of talking to a cashier. Your brain will often change the way it processes information as a result.
- Increased risk of dementia: Individuals with untreated hearing loss frequently exhibit an increased danger of dementia and cognitive decline. When the hearing loss is effectively treated, the risk decreases significantly.
All of these issues are obviously intertwined. Mental health issues, including depression, can be intensified by social isolation. And your risk of dementia also increases with social isolation.
Can mental decline be caused by hearing loss?
Your risk of mental decline and dementia is increased by untreated hearing loss, and that’s one of the more severe consequences of neglecting your hearing issues. Scientists have a few theories about why this might be, but what’s clear is that management of symptoms helps substantially. In other words, treating your hearing loss has been shown to reduce cognitive decline and decrease your risk of developing dementia later in life.
How to handle your forgetfulness (and hearing loss)
If your fatigue and forgetfulness are caused by neglected hearing loss, the good news is that treating your hearing loss symptoms can definitely have a positive impact. Here are a number of things we may recommend if hearing loss is detected:
- Regular screenings: Routine screenings can help you identify problems with your hearing before they become substantial problems. Treating your hearing loss early can prevent cognitive strain.
- The use of hearing aids: Utilizing a hearing aid can help you hear better. This can lead to less strain on your mental abilities and an improvement in your social scenario. Your risk of dementia, depression, and other possible problems can be decreased and your cognition can be improved by limiting your social isolation.
- Hearing protection: The utilization of hearing protection can counter further degradation of your hearing and, as a result, help prevent some of the cognitive strain described above.
You don’t need to remain forgetful!
You can regain strength of memory even if hearing loss is presently causing a little forgetfulness. In many cases, mental functions will return once your brain doesn’t need to strain so hard. When your brain doesn’t have to work as hard to hear, the rest can be very helpful.
Making an appointment with us can drastically improve your outlook and reduce your risk for other issues. Call us today!
