Q&A
We’ve Heard The Saying, “Hearing Care Is Brain Care.” What Does That Mean?
Multiple studies have shown that untreated hearing loss can contribute to cognitive decline. That’s the bad news. The good news is that correcting that hearing loss can delay or prevent the onset of cognitive decline — in some cases, even reverse it. When someone experiences hearing loss, their brain has to work harder to process and make sense of the information it receives. When the brain is working so hard just to hear, there’s less mental space for other key processes and it’s harder to focus on other things, leading to a decline in the brain’s ability to do those things in the long term. Hearing loss can also cause a person to socially isolate, and that isolation has been shown to contribute to dementia.
How Does Treatment Of Hearing Loss Slow Or Reverse Cognitive Decline?
The ability to communicate and hear more clearly with the help of hearing aids means you’re able to have more social interactions, more physical activity (with less fear of falling), reduced depression, anxiety, and isolation, and fewer feelings of loneliness. All of these have been shown to contribute to a slower — or halted — rate of cognitive decline.
How Do I Know If I Have Hearing Loss?
Hearing loss can occur slowly over time. It isn’t necessarily that you can’t hear volume. But if you realize you increasingly don’t understand words clearly, if you’re frequently asking people to repeat themselves, if you hear but don’t understand, you probably have hearing loss.
How Do Hearing Aids Work?
Hearing aids do much more than amplify sound. Today’s hearing aids are programmable to your specific hearing loss and lifestyle. We can create a program just for you. At the touch of a button, you can adjust your hearing aid to your environment — say, church, restaurant, or movie theater — or you can control them entirely with your smartphone with intelligent features that focus only on what you want to hear tuning out background noises.
Will Hearing Aids Work For Me?
This question is why we developed our two-week trial system. We let you try your new hearing aids for 14 days for free, to make sure you’re making the best decision for your hearing loss and needs. We want to partner with you to find the technology that will work with your lifestyle and budget.
Will Hearing Aids Improve My Quality Of Life?
You don’t realize how hard you’re working to understand until it becomes second nature again. Hearing well gives you confidence and allows you to relax when interacting with others. Communication is key to any healthy relationship. If you start to have miscommunication — or stop communicating — strife, arguments, and stress can occur. Hearing aids can improve relationships with family and friends. Hearing aids improve your safety as well, since not hearing a siren while you’re driving, a dog barking, a smoke alarm, a window breaking, a car when you are walking or biking, can all be incredibly dangerous.
About The Expert
Bary E. Williams, AuD
Adriatica Audiology
Born with hearing loss, Dr. Bary understands the 24-hour-a-day reality and the life-changing difference hearing aids can make. He developed the Adriatica Audiology system informed by his own struggles and has spent more than 30 years offering his patients the chance at a healthy, well-rounded life.