When you’re a youngster, falling is just a part of life. Wiping out on your bike? That’s typical. Tripping over your own feet while you’re running outside? Happens every day. It’s not really a concern because, well, kids are pretty limber. They don’t typically stay down for very long.
As you grow older though, that becomes less and less true. Falling becomes more and more of a worry as you grow older. To some extent, that’s because your bones tend to break more easily (and heal slower). Older individuals tend to spend more time on the floor in pain because they have a harder time getting back up. Falling is the leading injury-related cause of death as a result.
That’s why tools and devices that can decrease falls are always being sought after by healthcare professionals. New research appears to suggest that we may have found one such device: hearing aids.
Can hearing loss bring about falls?
If you want to fully grasp how hearing aids could possibly prevent a fall, you need to ask this relevant question: is it possible that hearing loss can increase your risk of falling? It looks as though the answer may be, yes.
So you have to ask yourself, why would the risk of falling be increased by hearing loss?
There isn’t exactly an intuitive connection. Hearing loss doesn’t really, after all, affect your ability to move or see. But it turns out there are some symptoms of hearing loss that do have this kind of direct effect on your ability to get around, and these symptoms can result in a higher danger of having a fall. Some of those symptoms include:
- Exhaustion: When you have neglected hearing loss, your ears are constantly straining, and your brain is often working overtime. Your brain will be constantly exhausted as a consequence. An exhausted brain is less likely to detect that obstacle in your path, and, as a consequence, you may wind up tripping and falling over something that an attentive brain would have seen.
- Loss of balance: How can hearing loss impact your balance? Well, your general balance depends greatly on your inner ear. So you may find yourself dizzy, experience vertigo, and lose your balance when hearing loss impacts your inner ear. Essentially, you have a tendency to fall more frequently.
- High-pitched sounds get lost: You know how when you walk into a concert hall, you immediately know that you’re in a huge venue, even if your eyes are closed? Or how you can immediately detect that you’re in a small space when you get into a car. That’s because your ears are using high-pitched sounds to help you “echolocate,” basically. When you can no longer hear high-frequency sounds due to hearing loss, you can’t make those assessments quite as quickly or easily. This can result in disorientation and loss of situational awareness.
- Depression: Untreated hearing loss can cause social isolation and depression (along with an increased risk of dementia). When you’re socially separated, you might be more likely to stay at home, where tripping dangers abound, and be less likely to have help close at hand.
- Your situational awareness is impaired: When you have neglected hearing loss, you might not be as able to hear that approaching vehicle, or the barking dog next to you, or the sound of your neighbor’s footsteps. Your situational awareness might be substantially affected, in other words. Can you become clumsy in this way as a result of hearing loss? Well, in a way yes, day-to-day tasks can become more dangerous if your situational awareness is jeopardized. And your chance of bumping into something and falling will be slightly higher.
Age is also a factor when it comes to hearing loss-associated falls. You’re more likely to experience progressing and permanent hearing loss. At the same time, you’re more likely to have a fall. And when you’re older, falling can have much more serious repercussions.
How can hearing aids help minimize falls?
It makes sense that hearing aids would be part of the remedy when hearing loss is the issue. And new research has confirmed that. Your danger of falling could be reduced by as much as 50% according to one study.
The link between staying on your feet and hearing loss wasn’t always this evident. Partly, that’s because not everybody wears their hearing aids all of the time. As a result, falls among “hearing aid users” were often inconclusive. This was because people weren’t using their hearing aids, not because their hearing aids were broken.
The approach of this study was carried out differently and perhaps more precisely. People who used their hearing aids often were classified into a different group than people who used them occasionally.
So why does using your hearing aids help you prevent falls? In general, they keep you more alert, more concentrated, and less fatigued. It doesn’t hurt that you have increased situational awareness. Many hearing aids also come with a feature that can notify the authorities and family members if a fall happens. This can mean you get assistance faster (this is crucial for individuals 65 or older).
Consistently wearing your hearing aids is the key here.
Prevent falls with new hearing aids
Hearing aids can help you reunite with your friends, enjoy quality moments with your loved ones, and remain in touch with everyone who’s important in your life.
They can also help prevent a fall!
If you want to learn more about how hearing aids could help you, make an appointment with us right away.
