Feel like you may be forgetting something important? It’s not your imagination. It really is becoming more difficult to remember things in daily life. Once you notice it, loss of memory seems to advance quickly. It becomes more incapacitating the more aware of it you become. The majority of people don’t realize that there’s a link between memory loss and loss of hearing.
If you believe that this is just a normal part of the aging process, you would be wrong. Losing the ability to process memories always has an underlying reason.
Neglected hearing loss is often that reason. Is your memory being impacted by hearing loss? By knowing the cause of your memory loss, you can take measures to slow down its development considerably and, in many cases, bring back your memory.
Here are some facts to think about.
How memory loss can be triggered by untreated hearing loss
There is a connection. As a matter of fact, scientists have found that individuals who have neglected hearing loss are 24% more likely to develop dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other extreme cognitive issues.
The reasons for this higher risk are multi-fold.
Mental fatigue
To begin with, hearing loss causes the brain to over-work. You have to strain to listen to something. Now, your brain has to work extra hard where before it just occurred naturally.
You start to use your deductive reasoning skills. You try to figure out what people most likely said by removing unlikely possibilities.
Your brain is under additional strain as a result. And when you can’t accurately use those deductive reasoning abilities it can be especially stressful. The consequence of this can be misconceptions, embarrassment, and sometimes even resentment.
How we process memory can be seriously impacted by stress. Mental resources that we should be utilizing for memory get tied up when we’re dealing with stress.
And something new starts to happen as hearing loss worsens.
Feeling older
You can start to “feel older” than you are when you’re constantly asking people to repeat what they said and straining to hear. This can begin a downhill spiral in which thoughts of “getting old” when you’re actually not become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Social isolation
We’ve all heard the trope of the person who’s so lonely that they begin to lose touch with reality. Human beings are created to be social. Even introverts have difficulty when they’re never with others.
Untreated hearing loss slowly isolates a person. It’s harder to talk on the phone. Social gatherings are not so enjoyable because you have to ask people to repeat themselves. You begin to be excluded from conversations by friends and family. Even when you’re in a setting with lots of people, you may space out and feel alone. The radio may not even be there to keep you company over time.
Being alone just seems simpler. You feel older than others your age and don’t feel like you can relate to them now.
When your brain isn’t frequently stimulated it becomes hard to process new information.
Brain atrophy
As somebody who is coping with neglected hearing loss begins to isolate themselves either physically or even mentally, a chain reaction initiates in the brain. Regions of the brain aren’t being stimulated anymore. They quit working.
There’s a high degree of interconnectivity between the different regions of the brain. Hearing is linked to speech, memory, learning, problem-solving, and other skills.
There will usually be a gradual spread of this functional atrophy to other brain functions, like hearing, which is also linked to memory.
It’s similar to how the legs become atrophied when somebody is bedridden for a long period of time. When they are sick in bed for a long time, leg muscles get really weak. They may stop working altogether. They may need to get physical therapy to learn to walk again.
But with the brain, this damage is a lot more difficult to rehabilitate. The brain actually starts to shrink. Doctors can see this on brain scans.
How a hearing aid can stop memory loss
You’re probably still in the early stages of hearing loss if you’re reading this. It may be hardly noticeable. It isn’t the hearing loss itself that is contributing to memory loss, and that’s the good news.
It’s the fact that the hearing loss is untreated.
In these studies, individuals who were wearing their hearing aids on a regular basis were no more likely to have memory loss than a person of a similar age who has healthy hearing. The progression of memory loss was slowed in people who started using their hearing aids after experiencing symptoms.
As you age, try to stay connected and active. If you want to keep your memory intact you need to understand that it’s closely related to hearing loss. Pay attention to the health of your hearing. Get your hearing tested. And consult us about a solution if you’re not using your hearing aid for some reason.