Category — Effects of hearing loss

It is often difficult for friends and family to get a hearing loss patient to go for a complete diagnosis and exam. Hearing loss patients so often live in denial that they have a problem. They are almost as difficult to draw out of their denial as a person with an addiction. One could say the patient is addicted to hearing clearly and is in denial of the fact they can no longer do so easily. Anger, withdrawal and confrontation are often symptoms exhibited by early stage hearing loss patients. They are often angry with loved ones who suggest they have a problem, they will withdraw from those who are making them angry and they will usually confront those who suggest they have a problem with excuses and blame.  Read more... (554 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

Without medical intervention at an early stage, hearing loss can quickly progress from a minor situation requiring a small hearing aid to a major medical condition requiring more extensive treatments. What most people do not realize is that a majority of aging adults in the United States will experience some form of hearing loss as they age. Within the group of adults who begin to experience hearing loss as they age, there will be a majority who compensate for the condition for a long period of time prior to seeking medical assistance.  Read more... (371 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Hearing loss can affect your life in many ways. Affects can range from simple misunderstandings to full withdrawal from family and friends and major depression. Some people might say hearing loss is just one of those things you have to deal with as you age. Dealing with hearing loss, without professional medical assistance, can lead to many major problems in life with relationships and social situations.  Read more... (479 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

The intimacy of love making for couples often depends on one or the other picking up on romantic cues or intimate conversation. Modern digital hearing aids can often provide patients with hearing loss the means to once again catch the signals their partner is trying to offer to show they are interested in being intimate.

Hearing loss can often interfere with something as simple for couples as listening to their favorite music together. Diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss can often make relationships more intimate and bring back the spark of romance in any relationship.  Read more... (242 words, estimated 58 secs reading time)

The ability to understand simple speech and conversation is one of the first things that is lost with the onset of hearing loss. This lack of the ability to understand speech can be a significant road block to intimate, close conversation.

It does not take very long for a spouse to become irritable and distant when they lose the ability to speak to their significant other without shouting across the dinner table at the fancy restaurant. Hearing aids can definitely lessen the irritation caused by having to shout or constantly repeat what has already been spoken.  Read more... (250 words, estimated 1:00 mins reading time)

According to research by the Better Hearing Institute, one in five adults aged 41-59 and one in fourteen adults aged 29-40 experience some form of hearing loss. The study also indicated only one in four of these patients utilizes hearing aids to treat their hearing loss.

One might find it hard to believe even mild to moderate hearing loss could be affecting their love life. Hearing loss could affect someone’s relationship even more than Erectile Dysfunction Disorder or other medical conditions.

Any professional therapist or psychologist will offer simple advice for improving a relationship. The key to a healthy love life is effective and frequent communication.  Read more... (231 words, estimated 55 secs reading time)

Brandeis University researchers have discovered older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss can lose their ability to remember words and language.

Studies have shown, even when adults retain any amount of the ability to hear words and repeat them, older adults’ ability to remember the words they have heard is diminished if they are experiencing hearing loss.

Neuroscience professor Arthur Wingfield has advised, “The study is a wake-up call to anyone who works with older people, including healthcare professionals, to be especially sensitive to how hearing loss can affect cognitive function.”

Technorati Tags: digital hearing aids, Hearing Aids, hearing impairment, hearing loss and memory

There has been a possible link between hearing loss and memory loss identified in older adults.

Conversation becomes difficult when a patient is experiencing hearing loss, a condition which is often met with denial by the patient.  The patient may not realize that this undiagnosed hearing loss is affecting their memory.

Many older adults experience some form of mild to moderate hearing loss as their bodies age and all senses diminish.  Those with normal hearing may not understand the effect hearing loss has on someone’s ability to effectively remember.

When cognitive functions in older people are diverted from memory to hearing, simple language functions can suffer.  Read more... (178 words, estimated 43 secs reading time)

It is human nature to think we are right about what we’ve learned throughout our lives and right about the way our bodies are supposed to function.  Those lucky people that have never had a medical problem, never been diagnosed with a serious medical condition or never had so much as the common cold have an extraordinarily hard time understanding what is happening when their hearing begins to fail.  Their declining ability to hear clearly is in direct opposition of the person’s fundamental view of how their body should function.  This need to be right is one of the most challenging issues facing loved ones of someone with hearing loss.  Read more... (383 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

One symptom of denial and avoidance is blame. Hearing loss patients may begin to blame themselves for their declining hearing. They may also blame others by accusing them of whispering or mumbling. Patients who blame themselves may become angry that their bodies are not functioning as well as they used to. Patients who blame others, or accuse them of mumbling or whispering, may turn this blame on their spouses and children first. Often, with mild to moderate hearing loss, the ability to hear the pitch of women’s and children’s voices is the first to be lost.  Read more... (376 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)