We all know that we have five senses. Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell, and Touch. Our senses work with one another, so to speak. If one of our senses is not as acute as the others, the others will pick up the slack.
While our sight is probably the most developed sense in humans, it is followed very closely by our hearing. If you hear a noise in the middle of the night in your dark house you use your hearing to try and figure out what the sound was. Your eye’s peer into the dark. You touch your spouse. “Did you hear that?” What woke you up? You can’t see very well, did someone wake you up? Someone is touching and talking to you? What was that sound… was it the Smoke Detector? Now you are smelling? Nope, no smoke. Turn on the lights. Don’t see anything. Walk through the house to investigate… was it the puppies?. Nope. The Cat? Your brain is in full stimulation mode by now…. Maybe… The lights are all on now and you are convinced that you didn’t hear anything. All that worked up my thirst… Maybe a glass of Milk… AH! taste. All that took just a couple of minutes. You woke up, got up, turned on the lights, put on your glasses and went to investigate. While you were drinking your milk, your spouse was still in the bedroom yelling, “Do you see anything? Babe? BABE?” Don’t make them walk to the kitchen and bust you drinking milk at 3 in the morning!! Help yourself and all your other senses out!! PUT IN YOUR HEARING AIDS! At least one if you are investigating in the middle of the night. For your protection and to help out your other senses.
People with mild hearing loss (25dB) are more likely to have a history of falling. Every additional 10 decibels of hearing loss increases the chances of falling by 1.4 times the original risk.
Adults with untreated hearing loss experience a 30-40% FASTER DECLINE IN COGNITIVE ABILITIES compared to their peers with aided hearing. Those with untreated hearing loss have SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER incidence of feelings of isolation and depression.
Studies show that our lifespan is Longer when we properly correct our hearing loss and wear hearing aids. (When compared with our peers that have hearing loss and do not wear hearing aids to stimulate the brain).
Dementia. Adults with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia. The worse the hearing loss the greater the chance of development if left untreated. A mild loss is 2 times greater than someone who has a loss and wears aids. A person with a severe loss that does not wear hearing aids is FIVE TIMES more likely to develop dementia than the friend with the same loss who does wear hearing aids.
Tinnitus. Over 90% of people with tinnitus, (ringing in the ear, crickets, roaring, clicking, dinging, waves, various head noises) have hearing loss.
Did you know… that many times “tinnitus” will wake you up in the middle of the night, out of a sound sleep. HMMM….. maybe that’s what you thought you heard. Take care of all of your senses. They are valuable to your well being. Call us and set your appointment for a hearing test today!! To Hear Better Is To Live Better!
By: Roseann B. Kiefer, B.A., BC-HIS