Age-related hearing loss can have broad impacts across your whole life. Besides your ability to hear, your professional life, your social life, and even your cognitive clarity can also be affected. The way your brain functions, including your memory and mood, can be substantially affected by hearing loss.
The link between cognition and hearing loss isn’t always apparent. For example, one of the initial symptoms of hearing loss may be forgetfulness, but individuals rarely think that their memory problems are linked to a loss of hearing. Sadly, the reality is that memory loss and hearing loss are closely connected.
What does hearing loss have to do with memory? Well, hearing loss puts a unique strain on your brain and that’s, at least to some extent, the connection. Your mental abilities will usually improve when you manage your hearing loss.
How hearing loss impacts memory
Hearing loss can be hard to detect. It’s not unusual for people to miss the more discreet and early signs. Hearing loss might only be recognized, for individuals in this category, when it becomes more extreme. In part, that’s because hearing loss has a tendency to progress rather gradually. It’s commonly easy to dismiss symptoms and, basically, turn up the volume on your television a little more every few days (or weeks).
Another factor is how good the brain is at compensating for loss of sound. You might not detect that it’s becoming harder to understand what people are saying as a result. This is beneficial in that you will likely experience fewer disruptions to your daily life. But it takes a significant amount of brain power to compensate in this way. Here are a few consequences of asking your brain to do this over long periods of time.:
- Unexplained irritability
- Memory loss or forgetfulness
- Chronic fatigue
If you’re having these symptoms, we’ll be able to inform you whether the underlying cause is hearing loss or not. In situations where hearing loss is present, we’ll work with you to formulate a treatment plan.
Can memory problems be the result of hearing loss?
Obviously, your brain can be affected by hearing loss in other ways besides fatigue. Forgetfulness is a prevalent symptom. This is especially true of neglected hearing loss. The cause and effect relationship is not entirely understood, but it’s clear that there is a link between hearing loss and the following issues:
- Social isolation: People with untreated hearing loss will often begin to isolate themselves from other people. You’ll go out less frequently, talk with the cashier at the grocery store less, and so on. Your brain will often alter the way it processes information as a result.
- Increased risk of depression and anxiety: Studies have shown that neglected hearing loss can also cause increases in both depression and anxiety over time. Again, this risk has been demonstrated to drop when the underlying hearing loss is successfully managed.
- Increased risk of dementia: People who have untreated hearing loss frequently exhibit an increased danger of dementia and cognitive decline. This risk declines dramatically when the hearing loss is treated and managed.
All of these issues are obviously intertwined. Mental health issues, including depression, can be intensified by social isolation. And your risk of dementia also increases with social solitude.
Can mental decline be caused by hearing loss?
One of the more serious impacts of neglected hearing loss is a marked increase in your risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Scientists have some theories about why this might be, but what’s obvious is that management of symptoms helps substantially. In other words, managing your hearing loss has been shown to slow down mental decline and decrease your risk of developing dementia down the road.
Dealing with hearing loss related forgetfulness
The good news is, managing untreated hearing loss, if your forgetfulness is a result of hearing loss, will definitely help. In cases where hearing loss is detected, we may suggest the following:
- The use of hearing aids: You will hear better with the use of a hearing aid. Your social life can be improved and your mental abilities will have less strain by using hearing aids. By preventing and decreasing social isolation, your cognition can improve, decreasing your risk of dementia, depression, and other issues.
- Regular screenings: Regular screenings can help you identify issues with your hearing before they become substantial issues. Treating your hearing loss early can prevent cognitive strain.
- Hearing protection: The use of hearing protection can prevent additional degradation of your hearing and, consequently, help prevent some of the mental strain outlined above.
You don’t need to stay forgetful!
If hearing loss is causing you to be a little forgetful, it’s important to highlight that it doesn’t have to stay that way. Once the strain on your brain is relieved, your cognitive function, in many instances, will improve. When your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to hear, the rest can be very helpful.
Make an appointment with us so that we can help you substantially improve your outlook and reduce your risk of other problems.