Everyone wants to stay youthful for as long as they can. From wrinkle creams to Botox to special diets to spin class, we spend a great number of hours each day doing what we can to slow the steady march of aging. And yet, even with all that energy (and all that time), the one thing that might actually work, we tend to avoid: safeguarding our ears.
Hearing loss is often one of those “signs of aging” that we tend to think of as inevitable. But it’s not that easy. You can keep your hearing in good condition and help prevent damage by protecting and taking care of your ears. And as the years go on, strong hearing can have significant anti-aging benefits.
Hearing And Aging
The actual passing of time is not generally what we are referring to when we speak of aging. Instead, specific emotional, mental, and physical changes are indications that someone is getting older. Joint pain is a great example of this. You may associate sore knees, for instance, with “growing old”. But lifestyle has as much to do with this as age does.
The same will also apply to many kinds of hearing loss. There’s an accumulation of damage as you grow older. The accumulation of damage, in most situations, is the real cause of hearing deterioration. And that’s when things can begin to snowball. Untreated hearing loss has been associated with several other signs of aging:
- Studies have shown a strong connection between neglected hearing loss, depression, and anxiety.
- In some instances, the mental burden involved in trying to hear can lead to problems like loss of memory or insomnia. And that can make you feel like you’re aging in an especially intense way.
- When hearing problems are undetected and untreated they can often hasten the onset of other mental health problems, including dementia.
- Untreated hearing loss may cause you to self-isolate from friends or family.
What to do About Age Related Hearing Loss
When you battle the “signs of aging” in your ears, you’re really placing a focus on controlling damage. And thankfully, there are a few ways to achieve that. For instance, you can:
- Boost your awareness. It isn’t just the painfully loud noises that can lead to damage. Moderate noise for extended periods of time can cause injury to your ears, too.
- As much as you can, steer clear of loud noises. And when you can’t stay away from high volume places, use hearing protection. So make certain you use earplugs when you go to that rock concert.
- If you happen to work in a rather noisy environment, wear ear protection. With modern quality ear muffs, loud sounds are filtered out while you can still hear people talking clearly.
All of these steps will help safeguard your ears. But if you want to keep your hearing in good shape you can do one more thing: schedule an appointment with us for a hearing examination. Making sure you get hearing examinations regularly can help you catch hearing loss before it’s even recognizable. Even if your hearing is perfectly normal, an exam will still be able to provide a useful baseline to compare against future results.
Wear Hearing Aids to Keep Your Ears Healthy
We live in a noisy world. Even with your best effort to take care of your hearing, you still may eventually detect some hearing loss. You need to seek out help as soon as possible if you do notice any symptoms of hearing loss. A good pair of hearing aids can help lessen some of the so-called age-related concerns related to hearing impairments.
Hearing aids can assist your hearing to function more youthfully, kind of like a facelift for your ears. And dementia, depression, and other problems can be avoided. This analogy only goes so far since a facelift is cosmetic and hearing aids are essential. Wrinkle creams could help you look younger. But your best choice, if want to feel younger, is to take care of your hearing loss and safeguard your hearing.