Age-associated hearing loss can have diverse impacts across your overall life. Not only is your ability to hear affected, but so too are your social life, your professional networks, and even your cognitive abilities. The way your brain works, including your mood and memory, can be significantly affected by hearing loss.
The link between cognition and hearing loss isn’t always obvious. People normally don’t relate their memory issues, for instance, with hearing loss even though it’s one of the very first symptoms. Sadly, the reality is that memory loss and hearing loss are closely related.
What’s the link between memory and hearing loss? Well, the connection is at least partly the result of the unique ways that hearing loss can strain and stress your brain. Your cognitive abilities will usually improve when you manage your hearing loss.
How hearing loss impacts memory
Hearing loss can be hard to detect. It isn’t uncommon for individuals to miss the more subtle and early signs. For these people hearing loss might only become evident once it has become moderate or severe. The progression of hearing loss is frequently slow over time and that’s in part why it’s initially difficult to recognize. People often begin raising the volume on their devices more and more and tend to disregard their symptoms.
In addition, the human brain is really good at compensating for intermittent loss of sounds. As a result, you might not notice that people are harder to understand. This is advantageous in that you will probably experience fewer disruptions to your daily life. But it takes a substantial amount of brain power to compensate in this way. Here are a few consequences of asking your brain to do this over long time periods.:
- Memory loss or forgetfulness
- Unexplained irritability
- Chronic fatigue
If you’re noticing these symptoms, we’ll be able to inform you whether the root cause is hearing loss or not. In situations where hearing loss is present, we’ll work with you to formulate a treatment plan.
Can hearing loss cause memory problems?
Of course, this mental fatigue isn’t the only way that hearing loss can affect your brain. Forgetfulness is often a notable presentation. When hearing loss has gone untreated, this is especially true. The cause and effect relationship is not fully understood, but it’s clear that there is a link between hearing loss and the following problems:
- Social isolation: Individuals with neglected hearing loss will frequently begin to isolate themselves from other people. You’ll go out less frequently, chat 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 dementia: Individuals with untreated hearing loss have been known to exhibit an increased danger of dementia and cognitive decline. When the hearing loss is effectively managed, the risk diminishes significantly.
- Increased risk of depression and anxiety: Studies have demonstrated that untreated hearing loss can also cause increases in both depression and anxiety over time. Again, this risk has been demonstrated to decrease when the root hearing loss is successfully managed.
All of these issues are obviously intertwined. Social solitude can worsen depression and other mental health problems. And your risk of dementia also increases with social isolation.
Can cognitive decline be caused by hearing loss?
Your risk of mental decline and dementia is increased by neglected hearing loss, and that’s one of the more severe outcomes of neglecting your hearing problems. Scientists have some theories about why this may be, but what’s obvious is that management of symptoms helps significantly. In other words, managing your hearing loss has been shown to slow down mental decline and lower your risk of developing dementia down the road.
Dealing with hearing loss related forgetfulness
If your fatigue and forgetfulness are caused by untreated hearing loss, the good news is that treating your hearing loss symptoms can absolutely have a positive impact. Here are a few things we may suggest if hearing loss is identified:
- Hearing protection: Using hearing protection can prevent additional degradation of your hearing and, as a result, help prevent some of the mental strain described above.
- The use of hearing aids: You will hear better with the use of a hearing aid. This can lead to less strain on your cognitive abilities and an improvement in your social scenario. By preventing and reducing social isolation, your cognition can improve, decreasing your risk of dementia, depression, and other issues.
- Regular screenings: Before any problems begin to happen, regular screenings can identify them. Managing your hearing loss early can prevent cognitive strain.
You don’t need to stay forgetful!
If hearing loss is causing you to be a bit forgetful, it’s important to highlight that it doesn’t need to remain that way. Once the strain on your brain is relieved, your cognitive function, in many circumstances, will improve. When your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to hear, the rest can be very helpful.
Scheduling an appointment with us can drastically improve your outlook and decrease your risk for other problems. Contact us today!
