Have you ever attempted to disregard a toothache? They can be quite rough. Eventually, you’re absolutely pleading to go see a dentist. And when your eyesight starts to lose focus it’s the same. When you have difficulties reading street signs, you’ll probably make an appointment with an ophthalmologist. But the issue is, when your hearing begins to go you may not show as much urgency.

This would more than likely be an oversight. There are appreciable health problems (particularly mental health issues) that can happen as a consequence of untreated hearing loss. Naturally, you can only neglect your diminishing hearing if you’re actually aware of it. And there you have the second problem.

Signs You Could Have Hearing Loss

We tend to take our hearing for granted. A high volume music festival? No worry. Blasting ear pods? You like to listen to your podcasts this way. But your overall hearing will be substantially affected by each of these choices, especially over time.

Sadly, those impacts could be difficult to notice. The signs of hearing loss can be almost invisible because they creep up so slowly over time. That’s why it’s a good idea to be familiar with some primary red flags (and to be certain you don’t neglect them):

• Your short term memory seems to suddenly fail sometimes
• It’s hard to understand conversations in loud or crowded settings
• Voices of those around you (friends, family, co-workers) sounds dull or distorted
• You keep turning up the volume on your television, car stereo, or your smartphone
• You have a particularly hard time making out consonants when listening to casual speech
• You can’t keep a set of earbuds because you keep blowing the speakers
• You find yourself asking individuals around you to repeat themselves quite often
• You have a hard time falling asleep at night and feel exhausted for no reason

These signs, red flags, or warnings are all pretty well recognized. At first, you will be somewhat ignorant of your symptoms, especially if they come on gradually, because your brain will immediately begin to compensate. That’s why you should make an appointment with your hearing care professional because these warning symptoms should be taken seriously.

If You Ignore Your Hearing Loss, What’s Going Happen?

Some individuals are, certainly, stubborn. Or they simply don’t favor the thought of wearing a hearing aid. They believe that wearing hearing aids makes them look old. But that isn’t really the situation (most hearing aids can be quite discreet, and being capable of conversing fluently is a boon, also).

Still, if you neglect hearing loss it may result in numerous issues:

• Your relationships could fray: There’s something that takes place when you have a hard time comprehending your family and friends: you start having fewer interactions with them. You quit saying hi, you quit checking in, you pull away. Some of those relationships will be damaged, specifically if no one has any idea that the underlying cause is hearing loss (and not some unspoken animosity).
• You could cause your hearing to get worse: Without a hearing aid or enhanced hearing protection, you’ll keep cranking the volume on your television up. Or you won’t use earplugs when you attend rock concerts. Which means you’ll continue doing harm to your ears and your hearing will almost definitely continue to decline because of it.
• Cognitive decline and depression could result: As your relationships fray and going out gets more difficult, you may start to notice signs of depression. You may also start to experience some cognitive decline if your brain doesn’t receive the auditory stimulation that it’s used to, your neural physiology starts to experience specific changes. If your hearing loss isn’t addressed, it can result in longterm cognitive worries.

Hearing Loss Shouldn’t be Ignored

In the future, clearly, bigger and more significant problems can be triggered by hearing loss. But the opposite is true: recognizing and dealing with your hearing loss can enhance your quality of life significantly. When you hear better, your relationships get better and your daily life seems more full. And your overall health will be improved by seeing a hearing specialist or at least downloading a noise monitoring app.

You definitely shouldn’t ignore the health concern of hearing loss. The sooner you find the proper treatment, the happier you’ll be. Manage your hearing loss before it gets too severe to ignore.