You know what it’s like to try to disregard a toothache? It can be very hard. Sooner or later, you’re unquestionably pleading to go see a dentist. And when your eyesight begins to blur it’s the same. You’ll probably call an ophthalmologist when you begin to have difficulty reading street signs. But the issue is, when your hearing starts to go you may not show such urgency.

This would most likely be a mistake. Untreated hearing loss can be responsible for significant health concerns (especially mental problems). Obviously, you can only neglect your diminishing hearing if you’re actually aware of it. And there’s the second problem.

You May Have Hearing Loss if You Notice These Symptoms

We commonly don’t appreciate our hearing. A loud concert? No big deal.. Blasting ear pods? You prefer to listen to your podcasts this way. But all of those choices, especially over time, will have a considerable affect on your general hearing.

Unfortunately, those impacts may be difficult to notice. Hearing loss can creep up on you incrementally, with symptoms that advance so gradually as to be effectively invisible. That’s why it’s a good idea to know some primary red flags (and to deal with them sooner than later):

• It’s difficult to understand conversations in noisy or crowded environments
• You find yourself asking people around you to repeat what they said frequently
• Distorted or muffled sounding voices from people around you (family, co-workers, friends)
• You consistently blow the speakers in your earpods because you have the volume up too high
• When you listen to everyday speech, you have a particularly tough time hearing consonants
• You experience sudden issues with short term memory
• You keep cranking up the volume on your television, car stereo, or your cellphone
• You feel an unexplained sense of fatigue or have excessive difficulty falling asleep at night

These symptoms, red flags, or warnings are all pretty well known. If your loss of hearing comes on especially slowly, your brain will instantly start compensating for any hearing loss that develops, making you somewhat oblivious, at first, to your symptoms. That’s why any of these warning symptoms should be taken seriously, which means you need to schedule an appointment to see your hearing specialist.

What Happens if You Neglect Your Hearing Loss?

Indeed, some people are very obstinate. Or the idea of wearing hearing aids is simply too unwelcome. They believe that wearing hearing aids causes them to look old. But in actuality, most contemporary hearing aids are practically unseen (and it doesn’t hurt when you can hear and take part in conversations).

Still, if you neglect hearing loss it could result in several problems:

• Your relationships could fray: There’s something that takes place when you have a difficult time comprehending your friends and relatives: you begin having fewer conversations with them. You don’t call to say hi, you don’t keep up with what’s going on with them, you disengage. Some of those relationships will be damaged, particularly if the problem is hearing loss that you have kept secret (and not some unexpressed animosity).
• You could cause your hearing to get worse: Without a hearing aid or enhanced ear protection, you’ll keep turning the volume on your television higher. Or you won’t utilize earplugs when you attend rock concerts. Which means you’ll continue doing harm to your ears and your hearing will almost certainly keep declining because of it.
• You could suffer from depression and cognitive decline: You might begin to discover symptoms of depression as your relationships fizzle and going out gets more challenging. You may also start to experience some mental decline without the auditory activation your brain is used to, certain changes begin to take place in your neural physiology. If your hearing loss isn’t dealt with, it can lead to longterm cognitive worries.

Don’t Ignore Your Hearing Loss

Clearly, neglecting your hearing loss can cause bigger and more significant issues down the road. Conversely, your quality of life can be considerably improved by recognizing and dealing with your hearing loss. When you can hear, your relationships improve and your every day life seems more full. And your overall health will be enhanced by seeing a hearing specialist or at least downloading a noise monitoring app.

You absolutely shouldn’t ignore the health problem of hearing loss. A happier life begins when you find the correct treatment. Don’t wait until the proverbial toothache gets too painful to ignore.