Age-related hearing loss can have diverse impacts across your whole life. Not only is your ability to hear affected, but so too are your social life, your professional networks, and even your mental abilities. Over time, hearing loss can intensely impact how your brain works in ways that immediately impact your mood, your memory, and more.
Sometimes, the link between hearing loss and cognition is elusive. For instance, one of the earliest symptoms of hearing loss could be forgetfulness, but individuals rarely think that their memory issues are associated with a loss of hearing. The unfortunate truth is that hearing loss and memory loss go hand-in-hand.
What’s the link between memory and hearing loss? Well, hearing loss puts a distinctive strain on your brain and that’s, at least in part, the connection. Your mental abilities will normally improve when you manage your hearing loss.
How memory is Affected by hearing loss
Detecting hearing loss can frequently be difficult. It’s not uncommon for people to miss the more subtle and early signs. For these people hearing loss might only become obvious once it has become moderate or severe. The development of hearing loss is frequently slow over time and that’s partly why it’s initially hard to detect. Individuals frequently begin raising the volume on their devices more and more and tend to ignore their symptoms.
In addition, the human brain is very good at compensating for periodic loss of sounds. You may not notice that it’s becoming harder to understand what people are saying as a result. This is advantageous in that you will probably experience fewer interruptions to your daily life. However, compensating like this requires considerable brain power. Requiring your brain to work at this level for long durations can lead to:
- Unexplained irritability
- Chronic fatigue
- Memory loss or forgetfulness
If you’re noticing these symptoms, we’ll be able to inform you whether the underlying cause is hearing loss or not. If it’s determined that you are dealing with hearing loss, we can help you develop the best treatment plan.
Can hearing loss lead to memory problems?
Of course, this mental fatigue isn’t the only way that hearing loss can impact your brain. Forgetfulness is often a notable presentation. When hearing loss has been neglected, this is especially true. The cause and effect relationship is not fully understood, but it’s clear that there is a connection between hearing loss and the following problems:
- Social isolation: Individuals with neglected hearing loss will frequently begin to separate themselves from others. They will frequently avoid conversations and will do things like going to self-checkout rather than talking to a cashier. Your brain will often alter the way it processes information as a result.
- Increased risk of dementia: The danger of dementia and other forms of mental decline is greater for individuals who have neglected hearing loss. When the hearing loss is effectively managed, the risk diminishes substantially.
- Increased risk of depression and anxiety: Research has shown that neglected hearing loss can also result in increases in both depression and anxiety over time. Again, this risk has been demonstrated to decrease when the root hearing loss is effectively managed.
These problems aren’t unrelated, of course. Social solitude can exacerbate depression and other mental health issues. And your risk of dementia also increases with social isolation.
Can mental decline be caused by hearing loss?
Your risk of mental decline and dementia is increased by neglected hearing loss, and that’s one of the more serious outcomes of neglecting your hearing issues. Scientists have a few theories about why this may be, but what’s obvious is that management of symptoms helps substantially. In other words, managing your hearing loss has been shown to reduce mental decline and decrease your risk of developing dementia later in life.
Dealing with hearing loss induced forgetfulness
The good news is, managing untreated hearing loss, if your forgetfulness is a result of hearing loss, will certainly help. Here are a number of things we may suggest if hearing loss is identified:
- Regular screenings: Before any issues begin to occur, routine screenings can detect them. Treating your hearing loss early can prevent cognitive strain.
- The use of hearing aids: Utilizing a hearing aid can help you hear better. Your social life can be improved and your mental abilities will have less strain by using hearing aids. By preventing and limiting social isolation, your cognition can improve, lowering your risk of dementia, depression, and other problems.
- Hearing protection: Some of the cognitive decline previously mentioned can be avoided and further damage can be minimized by the use of hearing protection.
You don’t need to stay forgetful!
If hearing loss is causing you to be a bit forgetful, it’s important to highlight that it doesn’t have to stay that way. In many instances, mental functions will return once your brain doesn’t need to strain so hard. When your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to hear, the rest can be really helpful.
Scheduling an appointment with us can significantly improve your outlook and reduce your risk for other problems. Contact us today!