Celebrating the Sounds of Your Life!

Photo credit: goldenKB/iStock

May is Better Hearing Month, so what better way to celebrate than to highlight the importance of hearing and ensure you are fully enjoying the sounds of life! Hearing loss isn’t just an ear issue; it’s a quality of life and health issue. Did you know that approximately 36 million Americans have hearing loss, and it is currently the third most common health problem in the United States behind arthritis and heart disease? With those staggering statistics, maybe it’s time to check your hearing.

Here’s why: hearing loss is linked to a greater risk of depression in adults of all ages, especially in 18–69 year olds. But studies show treating hearing loss can boost quality of life. People with hearing loss who use hearing aids are less likely to feel down, depressed, or hopeless, research from the Better Hearing Institute (BHI) shows—and they find more enjoyment in life. Luckily, the vast majority of people with hearing loss can benefit from hearing aids, and tremendous advances in technology—even in just the last couple of years—have made today’s hearing aids better than ever, motivating many to get a full hearing test from a hearing healthcare professional.

So if you’ve been fighting the doldrums, make sure it’s not unaddressed hearing loss that’s been weighing you down. Get a hearing test from an audiologist, and be inspired by these four ways that treating hearing loss may help put some spring back in your step:

• Keeping a positive outlook: BHI research shows that people with hearing loss who use hearing aids are more likely to be optimistic and feel engaged in life. Most even say it has helped their overall quality of life.
• Cultivating relationships and social connections: Using hearing aids can have a positive effect on your relationships and ability to participate in group activities. In fact, people who wear hearing aids are more likely to have a strong social network.
• Communicating effectively: Using present-day hearing aids can help people with hearing loss in their overall ability to communicate in most situations.
• Maintaining a can-do attitude at work and at home: BHI research shows that those with hearing difficulty who use hearing aids are more likely to tackle problems actively, and most hearing aid users in the workforce say it has helped their performance on the job.

When you’re able to hear and engage with the world around you, you will live a better and healthier life. So help us here at the Central Illinois Hearing and Balance Center in celebrating better hearing in the month of May and throughout the year.

This article was originally published in the May issue of Healthy Cells Magazine. To see the original article, please click HERE.