How Can Hearing Loss Affect Your Everyday Life?

Published 29 July 2018  | Updated 18 December 2022  | 3 mins read

Hearing loss, no matter how minimal, can have a huge impact on a person’s day-to-day life. It’s more than just missing a few words or asking people to repeat themselves, it can affect your overall health and wellbeing. Most people find it hard to come to terms with the fact that they have a hearing impairment or have the common misconception that their hearing isn’t bad enough to do something about, but this is not the case.

How it affects your life

Many people experience a number of health issues as a result of their hearing loss, with most going months or even years before they take action on their hearing loss. It can affect you socially, mentally and physically, with the below being some of the most common side effects of hearing loss on your day to day life:

  • Stress
  • Feeling down
  • Anxiety
  • Loneliness
  • Reduced job performance
  • Reduced physical and mental health

You may find you are suffering with one of the above symptoms, but you haven’t previously linked it to your hearing loss. A hearing test will be able to determine if you have a hearing loss and your audiologist will be able to offer the best solution for you, helping to hopefully prevent you from experiencing any of these related health conditions.

The long-term effects

Hearing loss can also affect your long-term health by encouraging the development of more serious health conditions. Untreated hearing loss can lead to feelings of isolation and depression, this is down to people feeling as though they can’t socialise or don’t fit in, all because they struggle to converse with friends, family or colleagues. The longer you leave a hearing loss untreated – the worse it will get. There is also a proven link between hearing loss and dementia, showing that those who suffer with a hearing loss experience a mental decline of the auditory cortex. This is the part of your brain that processes sound frequencies and it needs to be kept active in order for you to hear well. This auditory deprivation can affect your hearing permanently, making it harder for you to process certain sounds – which in turn can be a key contributing factor towards the development of dementia.

What you can do

The first step towards treating hearing loss is to accept you have a hearing loss. Most people struggle to accept it and dread the thought of having to wear hearing aids. But with today’s advancements in hearing aid technology, the bulky, awkward contraptions once known as hearing aids cease to exist – you can even get invisible hearing aids now.

If you are already a hearing aid wearer, then we would advise you to ensure you have regular check-ups with your expert THCP audiologist. It is also good to look after not only your physical health through exercise but your mental health too. Ensuring you talk to people on a daily basis or taking up a new hobby can also work wonders for your mental wellbeing.

The most important step is to have a hearing test if you haven’t already done so. Prevention is the best form of treatment – and you’re never too young for a hearing test. Book your free hearing test online today. You can also visit your local THCP branch to book an appointment or call us on 0800 52 00 546.