No one likes to be just a statistic – so we at HearCare encourage you not to join the 20% of Americans with hearing loss who so NOT seek treatment. Call and get a hearing test today – its non-invasive, its private and hearing is so, so necessary. Don’t be part of the growing problem of untreated hearing loss in adults.
Hearing loss numbers
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders calculates 17% of the American adult population, about 36 million people, have hearing loss. The number of people with hearing loss increases with age. Nearly one-third of Americans between 65 and 74 years old have hearing loss. If we look at hearing loss numbers for over the age of 75, nearly half of those adults have hearing loss.
Hearing loss is the third most prevalent chronic health condition facing adults. It is unfortunate that nearly 20% of those adults with hearing loss that could benefit from treatment delay getting help.
Studies show that many delay treatment until they can’t hear even in the best communication situations. This means they keep turning up the television, turning up the radio, turning up the volume on their phone and they start avoiding social situations where background noise makes it impossible for them to hear.
Hearing aid users, on average, wait more than 10 years from when they first get a diagnosis of hearing loss, to get treatment. As our population gets older, the pool of those with hearing loss, will grow.
Age-related hearing loss
Age-related hearing loss is called presbycusis. Factors that contribute to presbycusis are age, genetics, noise exposure and chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, diabetes and heart disease. Age-related hearing loss is generally a slow progressive loss which occurs in both ears equally. You will first notice issues with higher frequencies like children’s voices and then issues with lower frequencies. One of the first things you might notice is problems hearing and understand conversations in noisy environments.
Because this happens slowly, many adults don’t acknowledge it and consider it a sign of normal aging. Usually a spouse or significant other becomes frustrated with the hearing loss of their partner before that individual does. Because age-related hearing loss creeps up on you and it is so gradual, many wait far too long to address it.
Hearing loss impacts
Hearing loss impacts for individuals can’t be measured in decibels or percentages. There is the loss of communication and with that comes personality changes and a decline in the quality of life. It depends on how fast the hearing loss progresses, but hearing loss is linked to increased feelings of anxiety, frustration, fatigue, social isolation, depression and the early onset of dementia.
A recent national study documented the impact of untreated hearing loss on 4,000 adults and their significant partners. The study found higher rates of anxiety, depression and other emotional disorders among those with the hearing loss as well as the partners who were impacted by the untreated hearing loss.
On the good news front – the use of hearing devices had a positive impact on the adult with hearing loss as well as their significant partner. This most recent study helped solidify findings from more random studies that found hearing loss was linked to decreased social and emotional communication as well as a decrease in cognitive function for those who did not get hearing aids. The decrease in cognitive function, or dementia, was twice as likely to occur in those with untreated mild hearing loss, three times more likely with moderate hearing loss and five times more likely with severe hearing loss.
Hearing loss is considered an almost invisible ailment because although it is increasingly prevalent with age, it is often ignored when physicians are diagnosing and treating cognitive and memory disorders. Researchers recommend, since hearing aids markedly improve the quality of life, that there is more education to overcome what many see as a stigma associated with hearing aids. This same stigma doesn’t seem to apply to glasses or mobility treatments such as canes or walkers.
Treat yourself right
Your hearing is important to the quality of your life. Don’t treat hearing loss as something to be ignored when better hearing is, well – better for you! Call HearCare today. We can do home visits by appointment and many times may be visiting a nursing home or assisted living facility where you or a significant partner live. We also take late appointments by request.