As an Invisible Condition, Hearing Loss Often Goes Ignored
Hearing loss is something that many if not most of us will experience as we age. At present, some 48 million Americans are living with hearing loss. While about one-third of people aged 60–69 have hearing loss, about two-thirds of those above age 70 have it. Almost 100% of centenarians have hearing loss, suggesting all we need to do is live long enough to eventually lose some of our hearing!
And yet, the rate of treatment for hearing loss is staggeringly low. Currently, only about one out of five people who need hearing aids are wearing them. On average, it takes someone seven years from the time they notice a hearing loss to the time they do something about it and schedule an appointment for a hearing test.
Hearing Loss Treatment Is Often Avoided
Maybe it’s because hearing loss is invisible that people wait so long to pursue treatment. Most people tend to wait until it is all but impossible to have a one-on-one conversation in a quiet room before they decide it’s time to treat their hearing loss and visit an audiologist. Meanwhile, years have passed through which they were unable to participate in group conversations or follow a conversation when background noise was present. All those years not hearing clearly, ultimately affect cognitive function making it very hard to correct the hearing loss once it becomes severe.
Hearing Loss Comes With Risks to Health and Well-Being
For most of history, hearing loss has been considered an annoying but relatively benign part of the aging process. Perhaps it was fortunate that people took this view since there were no truly helpful treatments for substantial hearing loss, anyways! Today, we know that hearing loss tends to set off a cascade of negative outcomes for health and well-being, all of which we would rather avoid. And, fortunately, we have better knowledge, and modern hearing devices that can help us to navigate the world of sound almost as easily as we did before hearing loss became an issue. Those who don’t get hearing aids, however, can see the effects of untreated hearing loss accumulate over time.
The Procession of Hearing Loss
Hearing loss does not always simply proceed toward deafness. This is rare. But as the hearing loss progresses, it becomes harder and harder to understand speech clearly. Most people with age-related hearing loss tend to find that their hearing configuration declines for a period of time, and then plateaus, but muffled sound continues to affect the brain. It’s impossible to know exactly where the audiogram will plateau, but the most important thing is to treat hearing loss with hearing aids while and after this process occurs to avoid the outcomes that untreated hearing loss tends to bring.
Let’s take a look at the phases that people tend to pass through when hearing loss is allowed to progress without treatment.
Early Hearing Loss
In the early days of hearing loss, we start to have trouble picking out speech from background noise. It becomes difficult to hear in a crowded restaurant or a larger family gathering. Reverberant acoustic environments also give us trouble, as they contribute to the din of background sound and can even make our voices bothersome, as they echo and splash back to us.
In these earliest days, the biggest cost of hearing loss is fatigue. We have to use more of our brains to understand speech due to cognitive overload, and this is taxing. We have to ask people to repeat themselves more often. Inadvertently, we tend to want to leave the gathering earlier than we used to, and some of us may start to decline invitations altogether. Also, at this point research shows that people with untreated hearing loss are at a 200% higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
Progressing Hearing Loss
As hearing loss progresses, other people will start to notice our hearing loss—often before we do. Hearing loss happens so gradually that it is frequently a family member or friend who tells us we have hearing loss before we notice it ourselves! This is a great time to take heed and schedule an appointment for a hearing test.
People often begin to shy away from activities that take them outside the house, at this phase. The world starts to feel unsafe, as we know we can’t hear what’s happening around us. Limited mobility, less physical exercise, and drastically reduced social time are all common consequences of untreated hearing loss. Also, at this point research shows that people with untreated hearing loss are at a 300-400% higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
Long-Term Untreated Hearing Loss
If hearing loss continues untreated, the auditory cortex—the part of the brain that interprets sound—begins to atrophy. The grey matter between the brain cells dissipates, and the structure of neurons collapses. Even when hearing aids are adopted, at this phase, it can take a great amount of time and effort to retrain our brain to understand speech once again. Often, people, unfortunately, become socially isolated and depressed. At this point, research shows that people with untreated hearing loss are at a 400-500% higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
Hearing Loss and Risk of Dementia
As explained earlier, even a mild hearing loss is a HUGE problem, because it doubles our risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. As hearing loss progresses, the risk only becomes more significant. In addition to the lifestyle changes that can come with untreated hearing loss, there are also health risks such as injuries caused by falls. After all, our hearing mechanism is also responsible for our equilibrium. Hearing loss that progresses faster than normal can also be an indicator of an underlying cardiovascular condition, and regular hearing tests can track this progress and potentially alert your doctor to a life-threatening situation before it becomes acute.
If you or a loved one may be living with the invisible condition of hearing loss, make an appointment for a hearing test today and shed some light on the situation!