MIDLAND, Texas — Hearing loss is already a condition that takes some getting used to and requires one to change the way they live.
If hearing loss gets bad enough, medical professionals say you become more likely to develop conditions like dementia later in life.
“So the problem with hearing loss is that it causes the brain to have to work harder than it normally would. And so when you have to strain in order to understand what someone is saying then that causes the brain to have to use the functions in different manners than it’s supposed to be and it also affects the memory,” said Orland Purcell Au.D., a local audiologist.
So should you immediately get worried if you feel like your hearing is suddenly starting to get worse? No. The best thing to do is to not panic and let experts look at you first.
“The first thing you should do is you should either go and see an audiologist or go see your family physician or an ear, nose, and throat physician and have your ears checked because it could be something as mild as having excess earwax in your ears… If you haven’t done that then you can contact an audiologist and have a hearing test and we can tell you if there’s a problem and make an appropriate referral,” Dr. Purcell said.
Just because studies have shown a link to hearing loss and dementia doesn’t mean that it’ll happen to everyone with hearing loss.
But it doesn’t hurt to take care of your ears.
“Some of the things that you can be proactive about is reduce the amount of noise exposure that you’re in. Whether that’s loud concerts or gunfire or working around machinery. But the other thing is be mindful whenever you’re taking medications that can sometimes have a bad effect on your hearing.” Dr. Purcell said.