One of the issues that some hearing aid users find difficult to understand is why it is important to wear your hearing aids full time. Some people feel that it is not important to wear them when you are alone in your home, whereas other people only wear them when they are in a situation that challenges their hearing, such as at a restaurant with friends or at a party.
Unfortunately, people who do not wear their hearing aids from the time they wake up until they go to bed are hurting themselves in so many ways.
As will be discussed in this blog, they are not only impacting on their ability to hear better all the time, but they are possibly affecting their health in very significant ways.
Hearing Aids: A Valuable Health Investment
Hearing aids are an expensive precision medical device that should be treated as a major component of a healthy lifestyle. For most people, the purchase of hearing aids is the second or third most expensive item they ever buy, behind their home and their car.
If only for this reason, patients should take their hearing aids very seriously, as they might a heart monitor, their eyeglasses or even a pacemaker.
Why Full-Time Use Of Hearing Aids Matter
The following are the most important reasons why it is essential to wear your hearing aids full-time.
The Brain Needs Time to Adjust
The brain needs time to adapt to the sounds it has been missing before the patient gets their hearing aids. Wearing them consistently helps the brain become familiar with all the sounds in your environment, so the hearing aids will perform significantly better for the patient.
This cannot be accomplished if the brain does not have hearing aids to refer to on an ongoing basis where it will be exposed to a wide variety of different types of sound.
Even if the patient lives alone in the household, a situation where some patients do not feel they need to wear their hearing aids, there are many different sounds the brain must be conditioned to recognize. For example, the television, the telephone, a building intercom and a quick visit from a neighbor are sounds that the brain must be able to coordinate with the hearing aids.
In effect, the brain needs time to interact with the hearing aids, so it is able to recognize all the familiar sounds or speech patterns in your environment.
Hearing Aids Help Protect Brain Health
Wearing your hearing aids full-time will help patients maintain their cognitive functioning by providing the brain with the stimulation it requires. This is particularly important for an individual who does not have extensive interactions with other people, as the hearing aids can protect patients from cognitive decline.
Reduces Isolation and Depression
Wearing hearing aids all the time can enable patients to react appropriately to conversations with others, thus reducing feelings of isolation.
People who do not wear their hearing aids full-time can withdraw from conversations with others because they cannot follow the group discussions, and this can lead to depression.
Untreated Hearing Loss Increases Health Risks
There are many studies in the audiology industry that indicate that untreated hearing loss is directly related to an increased likeliness of a patient getting dementia, Alzheimer’s, or depression.
Further, patients with untreated hearing loss have 47% more hospital visits than those who have addressed their hearing loss with hearing devices. The increase in hospital visits is largely a function of older people falling and having injuries such as a hip fracture or other serious injuries.
Wear Your Hearing Aids Every Day—Even If You Live Alone
So if you live alone, it is still very advantageous to wear your hearing devices full time for your health, safety, and overall enjoyment of life.
Take the Next Step with Fifth Avenue Hearing
Wearing hearing aids full-time is one of the best things you can do for your brain, your health, and your connection to the world around you. But getting the right hearing aids—and the right support—matters just as much.
At Fifth Avenue Hearing, our experienced audiologist in New York can guide you every step of the way. From your first hearing test to finding the perfect fit, we’ll make sure your hearing aids work for your unique needs and lifestyle.
Don’t wait to enjoy better hearing.
Contact Fifth Avenue Hearing today and take the first step toward a fuller, healthier life with sound.
