Hearing Loss Support: Help Your Loved One with Their Journey Towards Better Hearing

As frequently mentioned in this blog, untreated hearing loss can negatively impact your overall health and quality of life. Studies have shown that untreated hearing loss diminishes a person’s cognitive abilities, there are more incidences of depression, falls, hospitalizations, and higher risks of dementia due to social isolation.  

What these studies fail to mention is how neglecting to seek help for hearing loss can devastate your social life, the ability to enjoy watching TV and movies, and the ability to enjoy listening to music or sounds of nature. It can also make you feel left out. Also, hearing loss that goes untreated could put your personal safety at risk if you are not fully attuned to your environment. You may find performing tasks on the job more challenging or might make mistakes more frequently. This can negatively impact your income. 

Most people do not seek help, and instead, ask others to repeat themselves or turn the volume up on their preferred form of entertainment. This may be due to their own denial, lack of healthcare insurance, or the inability to afford to get help/get necessary treatment due to their personal financial situation.     

In any case that involves a loved one’s health, support from family, friends, healthcare providers is crucial to their recovery and/or daily life.

What can be done?

Be available for your loved one. Patience and support are very important. You may not be able to know exactly what they are going through, but you can just be available to listen, advocate, and help them out with whatever they need.

Remind Them That You are also Affected by Their Hearing Loss

Give them a gentle reminder that you and others whom they interact with are also affected by their hearing loss. It might be the frustration of having to repeat things over and over again. Or it can be a safety concern that they might miss important warning sounds like sirens, alarms, an approaching vehicle, or news/weather alerts. 

Raise Awareness on the Poor Quality of Life that is Associated with Hearing Loss

Mention the negative impacts that were mentioned at the beginning of this blog article. Also, let them know that there are so many positive outcomes to treating hearing loss. Adults who regularly wear hearing aids, every day from the moment they wake up to the moment when they are winding down to go to bed, reported significant improvements in their overall quality of life. Also, receiving early treatment for hearing loss can help prevent or slow down the risks of dementia. 

If you are more worried about falling as a side effect of your hearing loss, it’s important to know that wearing hearing aids has been linked to a reduced risk of falls. 

Steps to take towards Better Hearing 

1. Help your loved one schedule a hearing test.
2. Join them at their hearing test and hearing aid fitting appointments.
3. Visit a local hearing aid provider, who will give a thorough hearing test and the best treatment options for your specific listening needs.     

Don’t Wait

The longer they wait, the harder it will be to treat. Like with any health problem, untreated hearing loss worsens over time which could mean more costly treatment options or no other treatment options.  

Get in touch with one of our hearing aid specialists at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. 

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