Everybody wants to stay youthful for as long as possible. We spend a great number of hours trying everything possible to stay young. From specialized diets to fad workout programs to Botox to wrinkle creams. And yet, even with all that effort (and all that time), we commonly neglect doing one simple thing that could actually work: protecting our ears.
Hearing impairment is often one of those “signs of aging” that we often consider to be inevitable. But it’s not that simple. You can keep your hearing in great shape and help prevent damage by protecting and caring for your ears. And good hearing can have considerable anti-aging benefits as time goes by.
Hearing And Aging
The actual passing of time is not usually what we are describing when we talk about aging. Instead, certain mental. emotional, or physical changes are signs that somebody is getting older. Pain in your joints is a great example of this. You may relate sore knees, for example, with “getting old”. But it’s not age by itself that leads to the issue (your daily 5-mile run could have something to do with it, also).
Many types of hearing loss fall into this category. There’s a build-up of damage as you get older. The accumulation of damage, in most cases, is the actual cause of hearing degeneration. And it’s typically downhill from there. Several other indications of aging have been connected to hearing loss:
- Studies have shown a strong connection between untreated hearing loss, anxiety, and depression.
- In some instances, the mental demand associated with trying to hear can cause issues like loss of memory or insomnia. And, in an especially profound way, that can cause you to feel like you are aging.
- Self isolation from friends and family can be the consequence of neglected hearing loss.
- The onset of mental problems, including dementia, can sometimes be hastened by neglected or undetected hearing loss.
What to do About Age Related Hearing Loss
When you fight the “signs of aging” in your ears, you’re actually placing an emphasis on preventing damage. And luckily, there are a number of ways to achieve that. Here are some things you can do:
- Raise your awareness. It isn’t only the painfully loud noises that can lead to damage. Your ears can also be injured by moderate noise if you are exposed to it for long periods of time.
- If you happen to work in a rather noisy setting, wear ear protection. With modern high quality ear muffs, loud sounds are filtered out while voices are still able to be heard with clarity.
- As much as possible, avoid loud noises. If you need to expose yourself to loud noise, wear hearing protection. So when you go to that concert with your favorite band, be sure to wear earplugs.
Your ears can be safeguarded by all of these actions. But there’s one more thing you can do to keep your hearing in fighting condition: contact us for a hearing test. Catching hearing loss before it’s perceptible can be accomplished by getting regular tests. Even if your hearing is perfectly fine, a screening will still be able to provide a useful baseline to compare against future results.
Keep Your Ears Healthy by Wearing Hearing Aids
The world we live in can be noisy. Your ability to protect against damage is essential, but you may eventually notice some hearing loss despite your best efforts. If that’s the situation, it’s vital that you seek help as quickly as possible. A good set of hearing aids can help counter some of the so-called age-related issues related to hearing impairments.
You can perhaps consider hearing aids as a facelift for your ears: something to allow your ears to perform a little more youthfully. And that can help keep depression, dementia, and other problems from increasing. The analogy isn’t ideal, because hearing aids are necessary and a facelift isn’t, but you get the idea. You may look younger if you use wrinkle cream. But your best bet, if want to feel younger, is to treat your hearing loss and protect your hearing.