If You’re a Senior: Doing This Can Lessen Your Chances of Hearing Health Problems

While it’s true that seniors are more at risk of developing a range of health conditions, it’s a common misconception that suddenly you reach your golden years and become a vector for every health issue under the sun. What matters as a senior is caring for the body you have and making healthy lifestyle decisions so that if an issue does rear its head, you can carefully manage, mitigate and prevent it from affecting your quality of life.

One of the most common conditions experienced by seniors is that of hearing and vision loss. Over 42% of people over the age of 50 experience hearing loss to some degree, while roughly 71% of people over the age of 70 do.

Thankfully, there are many measures, medical protocols and daily lifestyle habits you can entertain which help you enjoy the best quality of life possible despite this condition, known as presbycusis. With foresight and the means by which to manage your health, you can also prevent a current condition from worsening to much over time.

Prevention

It’s important to focus on prevention as a means of pre-emptive recovery. It has the most impact. To start with, it’s important to keep your earbuds or headphones at a disciplined volume, so as not to damage your eardrum and cause hearing loss. This also includes being in noisy environments, such as not wearing ear defenders when working with tools in your garage.

It’s also important to understand the symptoms of age-related hearing loss. This can include sounds seeming overly loud, ringing in the ears, having trouble keeping up with conversations and memory issues. Having a build-up of earwax seen to can help also, as softening or syringing can help prevent it from becoming a problem.

We would also recommend controlling your blood sugar if you have diabetes. Keeping your weight at a healthy level as senior can also help you in so many different ways that hearing loss prevention serves as another juicy benefit. Exercising, regularly eating good foods and getting enough water are key to living in the best shape you possibly can.

However, the best possible effort you can do for yourself is visiting an audiologist the moment you spot a symptom of hearing loss. There’s no one more primed than an audiologist to speak with you and manage your condition as appropriate.

Mitigation

There are several measures by which you can mitigate hearing loss during your golden years. This involves the use of excellent hearing aids such as in the ear, behind the ear or in the canal models. Visiting an audiologist can be step one on that journey.

In some cases, having preemptive lessons in sign language can help you more readily prepare for future hearing loss while your hearing is still relatively manageable because this can serve as a vital day-to-day skill no matter to what degree your hearing loss develops.

Mitigation also means talking with your relatives and friends about your hearing loss so they can understand and help you adapt to a new normal where appropriate. This might involve changing certain lifestyle habits of yours or it may not, but making those plans is key.

Lifestyle

One of the most important aspects of living well alongside hearing loss as opposed to being defined by it is still getting out there and living the life you want to live. Some people can take hearing loss as a sign that things will never improve, but that’s just not the case.

There are many actualized people out there living life with full deafness, and are nothing but appreciative. If you feel the need to isolate, this can end up having harmful effects on your mental health. An adjustment period is expected, but don’t let hearing loss define you.

Reliable and Professional Help

It’s essential to utilize the right services and aid if you’re hoping to mitigate the effects of hearing loss. An audiologist can make the biggest difference here.

From conducting an excellent hearing health survey to showcasing a hearing aid guide designed to make you more familiar with your options going forward, Affordable Audiology & Hearing Service is well-versed in helping you on your hearing loss journey.

From the first consultation, you’ll be in safe hands and enjoy the chance to field any questions you may have. You can begin that process by calling us today at (920) 267-5220.