The Benefits of Treating Hearing Loss

Treating hearing loss has many benefits for our health and well-being.

When left untreated, hearing loss can wreak havoc on our social lives, our mental state, and our physical health. While we may once have imagined hearing loss as an annoying but relatively benign concern, we now know that hearing loss actually changes the way our brain works, and can result in a kind of cascade of negative outcomes. Treating hearing loss allows us to avoid the problems that it can bring, and help us to keep living our lives to the fullest!

Mental Health Benefits

Without hearing aids, hearing loss can have a subtle effect on our confidence that becomes more pronounced over time. When we can’t hear well, we’re less attuned to our environment. If our brain is used to getting lots of information about the environment through our ears, the lack of information can be unsettling.

Not to mention that our hearing problems can create a disconnect between us and the people we love. Gatherings with friends and family become less enjoyable when we can’t understand what people are saying. Over time, we start to get out less and spend less time with others. This can lead quickly to loneliness, and ultimately depression and social isolation.

Those who wear hearing aids can avoid these problems just as easily as those with normal hearing. Hearing aids help us to take in the world around us, and that means we can feel more at ease and comfortable wherever we may go. They help us to connect with the people in our lives, which keeps us feeling socially connected.

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Hearing Loss and Dementia


Hearing loss has been shown to dramatically increase the likelihood of cognitive decline and dementia. The World Health Organization (WHO) put untreated hearing loss at the top of its list of twelve modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. The risk appears to increase with the severity of hearing loss:
  • Mild Hearing Loss - Twice as likely
  • Moderate Hearing Loss - Three times as likely
  • Severe Hearing Loss - Five times as likely
Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that hearing aids can drastically reduce these risks, and even reverse some cognitive decline!

Physical Health Benefits

Untreated hearing loss decreases our ability to balance. This makes us more prone to accidental falls. It’s also been shown that untreated hearing loss increases the risk of accidental injury more broadly. Hearing loss makes it more likely that we will end up in the hospital, and once there, it also makes us 30% more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of being discharged.

As hearing loss makes us feel uneasy in the world, it makes us less likely to get out of the house. Indeed, those with untreated hearing loss tend to see less physical activity than those with hearing aids. A little bit of exercise goes a long way, so if we’re staying cooped up in the house because we don’t feel comfortable venturing out, our health can begin to deteriorate.

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Hearing aids help us to feel more relaxed in the world, which makes us more comfortable getting out of doors more often. Those who get hearing aids tend to feel more confident and independent than those with untreated hearing loss—largely because they feel more comfortable leaving the house. Getting exercise also helps us to feel more confident, on its own. Just as untreated hearing loss can lead to a vicious cycle, hearing aids help us to get into a “virtuous cycle,” where our exercise and sociability can feed off of each other and keep us in good overall health.
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Earlier Is Better!

Often, when people are diagnosed with mild hearing loss, their impulse is to wait until their hearing loss becomes “really bad” before they get a set of hearing aids. While we understand the impulse to put off adding hearing aids into your life, the reality is that “mild” hearing loss still needs to be addressed!

Mild hearing loss increases social fatigue by making it more difficult to hear. Those with mild hearing loss also report having more memory problems than those with normal hearing. As hearing loss progresses, changes happen in the brain that make it harder to adjust to hearing aids once you do start wearing them.

The best way to ensure that you aren’t controlled by hearing loss is to start wearing hearing aids as soon as they are recommended by a hearing care professional. If you may be in need of hearing aids, make an appointment for a hearing test today at one of our two locations in Tucson or Green Valley, and take charge of your hearing health!

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Doris Van Vleet
Doris Van Vleet
2019-06-17
Competant, caring, listens, excellent product.
Garreth Llewellyn
Garreth Llewellyn
2019-05-22
Best place for service when we are in Green Valley. Joe is always fast, friendly, and thorough with my dad.
Linda Pandolfi
Linda Pandolfi
2019-05-12
Very competent, friendly and attentive staff. Joe Kopp has done a great job of adjusting my new Beltone Trusts which do an excellent job of managing background noise. The phone app gives me the capability of managing and controlling my hearing aids in every changing environment. I love having this ability. The Trust hearing aids have improved my experience while listening to music, playing the piano and singing. I highly recommend Giraffe Hearing!
Trista Hibberd
Trista Hibberd
2017-07-25
They helped me when I needed cleaning tools. They have great maintenance plans available for decent prices.