There are some aspects of your health that you should never ignore. When it comes to heart health and other immediately painful or worrying symptoms, most of us get that idea. However, when it comes to our hearing, sometimes people notice changes but do nothing about it, assuming it won’t affect their quality of life too much. However, the truth is that undiagnosed and untreated hearing loss can have profound impacts on your life in various ways.

The risks of isolation

Many of us have had to live through and give ourselves self-care through isolation to some degree, lately. However, it’s not something you should impose on yourself when you can avoid it. Communication skills and confidence can be among the first things to go when you start to experience hearing loss, as understanding speech can become not only more difficult, but it can become more stressful and require you to exert a lot more effort. To that end, many people with untreated hearing loss can start to, even unconsciously, avoid contact with other people, leading to isolation and loneliness.

The impact on your emotional health

Aside from straining your interpersonal relationships, the isolation often experienced as a result of hearing loss can also be a major contributing factor in a wide variety of emotional and mental health issues. Hearing loss, anxiety and depression have very close links. This can happen not just due to the loss of social contact with other people, but people can feel anxious when they feel like they have a diminished ability to sense the world around them, as well.

The decline of cognitive abilities

The way that hearing loss can affect your brain when not treated isn’t limited to just your mental and emotional health. Research is still going into the link between dementia, memory loss, and hearing loss, but there is a clear link. People with untreated hearing loss are at a greater risk of cognitive decline, and this may be because the areas of the brain used to interpret sound start to atrophy due to disuse. With a hearing aid, these parts of the brain are kept active/

What can you do about it?

Simply put, you should get a hearing test as soon as you experience any of the signs of hearing loss. If you find it harder to understand some people as they speak, if you find yourself needing to turn up the volume of your TV, or if you experience any noticeable changes to your hearing, you should make an appointment for a hearing test. In most cases, hearing loss is going to be treated via a hearing aid, which can greatly improve your ability to hear, communicate, and live a life just as rich and complete as life you had before hearing loss.

Your quality of life can see significant improvements when you take the step of getting your hearing loss treated. The other alternatives aren’t worth considering, so don’t ignore any signs of hearing loss you might experience.