Everyone wants to stay youthful for as long as they can. We spend a great number of hours undertaking everything we can to stay youthful. From special diets to fad workout programs to Botox to wrinkle creams. Still, with all that time and effort, the one thing that may actually work, we tend to avoid: safeguarding our ears.
Hearing impairment is often one of those “signs of aging” that we frequently consider to be inevitable. But it’s not that simple. You can keep your hearing in great shape and help avoid damage by safeguarding and taking care of your ears. And as time goes by, strong hearing can have significant anti-aging advantages.
Hearing And Aging
When we talk about “aging” we don’t normally mean the actual passing of time. Instead, specific emotional, mental, and physical changes are indications that a person is getting older. Joint pain is a great example of this. You might relate sore knees, for example, with “getting old”. But it’s not age by itself that leads to the problem (your regular 5-mile run may have something to do with it, also).
The same is true of many kinds of hearing loss. As you get older, damage accumulates. The build-up of damage, in most cases, is the real cause of hearing deterioration. And it’s typically downhill from there. Untreated hearing loss has been connected to a number of other signs of aging:
- In some cases, issues such as insomnia and memory loss, can be triggered by the mental strain of trying to hear. And that can make you feel like you’re aging in a particularly intense way.
- The onset of mental issues, including dementia, can sometimes be hastened by ignored or unnoticed hearing loss.
- Neglected hearing loss may cause you to self-isolate from family or friends.
- Studies have shown a strong link between neglected hearing loss, depression, and anxiety.
What to do About Age Related Hearing Loss
You’re really emphasizing damage prevention when you fight the “signs of aging” in your ears. And fortunately, there are quite a few ways to accomplish that. For instance, you can:
- Wear hearing protection to work if your job exposes you to loud noise. With modern quality ear muffs, loud sounds are filtered out while voices are still able to be heard with clarity.
- Become more aware. You can still suffer harm to your hearing even if sounds aren’t painfully loud. Moderate sound for extended durations can cause damage to your ears, too.
- Steer clear of loud noises as much as possible. If you need to expose yourself to loud noise, use hearing protection. So when you go to that concert with your favorite band, be sure to use earplugs.
Your ears can be safeguarded by all of these actions. But if you want to keep your hearing in good shape you can do one more thing: schedule an appointment with us for a hearing test. Making sure you undergo hearing tests with regular frequency can help you discover hearing loss before it’s even perceptible. Even if your hearing is perfectly normal, a screening will still be able to provide a useful baseline to compare against future results.
Keep Your Hearing Healthy With Hearing Aids
The world we live in can be loud. Despite your best effort to protect your hearing, you still might eventually detect some hearing loss. You should seek out help as soon as possible if you do notice any symptoms of hearing loss. A good pair of hearing aids can help prevent some of the so-called age-related problems related to hearing impairments.
You could perhaps consider hearing aids as a facelift for your ears: something to make your ears to perform a little more youthfully. And dementia, depression, and other issues can be avoided. The example isn’t perfect, because hearing aids are essential and a facelift isn’t, but you get the idea. Wrinkle creams could help you look younger. But if you actually want to combat aging and feel somewhat more youthful, your best choice is to safeguard your hearing and deal with your hearing loss.