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 works, including your mood and memory, can be substantially affected by hearing loss.
Sometimes, the connection between hearing loss and cognition is subtle. People typically don’t associate their memory problems, for instance, with hearing loss even though it’s one of the first symptoms. Unfortunately, the reality is that memory loss and hearing loss are closely related.
What does loss of hearing have to do with memory? Well, hearing loss puts a unique strain on your brain and that’s, at least to some extent, the link. Often, when your hearing loss symptoms are successfully managed, your cognitive abilities will improve.
How hearing loss impacts memory
Hearing loss can be difficult to detect. Frequently, individuals miss the early warning signs and more discreet symptoms. For these individuals hearing loss might only become obvious once it has become moderate or severe. The advancement of hearing loss is usually slow over time and that’s partly why it’s initially difficult to notice. Individuals frequently begin increasing the volume on their devices more and more and tend to disregard their symptoms.
Another factor is how good the brain is at compensating for loss of sound. You may not detect that it’s becoming more difficult to understand what people are saying as a result. This is beneficial in that you will probably experience fewer interruptions to your daily life. However, compensating like this requires substantial brain power. Here are some consequences of asking your brain to do this over long time periods.:
- Chronic fatigue
- Memory loss or forgetfulness
- Unexplained irritability
If you’re noticing these symptoms, we’ll be able to tell you whether the underlying cause is hearing loss or not. If it’s established that you’re dealing with hearing loss, we can help you formulate the best treatment plan.
Can memory issues be the result of hearing loss?
Of course, this mental exhaustion isn’t the only way that hearing loss can affect your brain. Forgetfulness is a common symptom. This is particularly true of untreated hearing loss. Even though scientists aren’t completely clear as to the cause and effect connection, hearing loss has been strongly connected to the following problems.:
- Social isolation: Individuals with neglected hearing loss will frequently begin to separate themselves from others. They will frequently steer clear of 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: The risk of dementia and other forms of cognitive decline is greater for people with untreated hearing loss. When the hearing loss is effectively managed, the risk diminishes substantially.
- Increased risk of depression and anxiety: An increase in anxiety and depression as a result of neglected hearing loss isn’t uncommon according to multiple studies. And once again, when the underlying hearing loss has been managed, the risk factor drops considerably.
These issues are not unrelated, of course. Mental health problems, including depression, can be intensified by social solitude. And your risk of dementia also increases with social isolation.
Does hearing loss cause cognitive decline?
One of the more serious impacts of neglected hearing loss is a pronounced increase in your risk of mental decline and dementia. It’s very clear that management of the symptoms helps considerably and scientists have a few theories as to why. In other words, managing your hearing loss has been shown to slow down cognitive decline and decrease your risk of developing dementia down the road.
Dealing with hearing loss related forgetfulness
The good news is, managing neglected hearing loss, if your forgetfulness is caused by hearing loss, will definitely help. In cases where hearing loss is identified, we might suggest the following:
- The use of hearing aids: Utilizing a hearing aid can help you hear better. Your social life can be improved and your cognitive abilities will have less strain by using hearing aids. Your risk of dementia, depression, and other possible issues can be decreased and your cognition can be improved by limiting your social isolation.
- Regular screenings: Before any problems start to occur, regular screenings can detect them. Treating your hearing loss early can prevent cognitive strain.
- Hearing protection: The use of hearing protection can counter further degradation of your hearing and, consequently, help prevent some of the mental strain outlined above.
You don’t need to stay forgetful!
If hearing loss is causing you to be a little forgetful, it’s important to emphasize that it doesn’t have to stay that way. Once the strain on your brain is alleviated, your cognitive function, in many instances, will sharpen. When your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to hear, the rest can be very helpful.
Scheduling an appointment with us can greatly improve your outlook and decrease your risk for other issues. Contact us today!