It seems as if we’re constantly trying to stay youthful. We spend a great number of hours undertaking everything possible to stay youthful. From special diets to gym memberships to Botox to wrinkle creams. And yet, even with all that energy (and all those hours), the one thing that might actually work, we often avoid: protecting our ears.
Most people most likely consider hearing loss as inevitable as we get older. But it’s not as simple as that. By protecting your ears (and treating them with a bit of kindness along the way), you can help avoid damage and keep your hearing in good condition. And great hearing can have considerable anti-aging benefits as time goes by.
Hearing And Aging
The actual passage of time is not normally what we are describing when we talk about aging. Instead, “aging” usually refers to the appearance of certain emotional, mental, or physical attributes that we link to getting older. Joint pain is a great illustration of this. When your knees start to bother you, you may relate that with “getting old”. But it’s not age alone that causes the problem (your everyday 5-mile run might have something to do with it, also).
Many kinds of hearing loss fall into this category. As you get older, damage accumulates. The build-up of damage, in most cases, is the real cause of hearing deterioration. And that’s when the problems can start to snowball. A number of other signs of aging have been linked to hearing loss:
- When hearing problems are unnoticed and neglected they can sometimes hasten the onset of other mental health issues, including dementia.
- Self isolation from friends and family can be the result of neglected hearing loss.
- Anxiety and depression have been shown to have a significant link to hearing loss.
- In some situations, the mental demand involved in attempting to hear can lead to issues like loss of memory or insomnia. And, in a particularly profound way, that can cause you to feel like you are getting old.
What to do About Age Related Hearing Loss
When you battle the “signs of aging” in your ears, you’re really placing an emphasis on preventing damage. And fortunately, there are quite a few ways to accomplish that. For example, you can:
- Become more aware. You can still have harm to your hearing even if sounds aren’t painfully loud. Your ears can also be injured by moderate noise if you are exposed to it for long periods of time.
- Wear ear protection to work if your job exposes you to loud noise. With modern high quality ear muffs, loud noises are eliminated while you can still hear people talking clearly.
- Avoid loud noises as much as possible. And when you can’t stay away from high volume areas, use hearing protection. So when you go to that concert with your favorite musician, be certain to use earplugs.
All of these strategies will help safeguard your hearing. But there’s one more thing you can do to keep your ears in fighting condition: make an appointment with us for a hearing examination. Making certain you get hearing examinations with regular frequency can help you discover hearing loss before it’s even perceptible. You should still get an exam even if your hearing is normal so that you can have a baseline to compare against in the future.
Keep Your Ears Healthy by Wearing Hearing Aids
We live in a loud world. Your ability to protect against damage is crucial, but you may ultimately notice some hearing loss even with your best efforts. You should get help as soon as possible if you do detect any symptoms of hearing loss. Some of the age related problems linked to hearing loss can be prevented with a good pair of hearing aids.
Hearing aids can assist your hearing to function more youthfully, kind of like a facelift for your ears. And dementia, depression, and other issues can be prevented. The example isn’t ideal, as hearing aids are needed and a facelift isn’t, but you get the idea. You might look younger if you use wrinkle cream. But your best choice, if want to feel younger, is to treat your hearing loss and safeguard your hearing.