When you’re a youngster, falling is just a part of life. Wiping out on your bike? That’s typical. Getting tripped up while running across the yard. Also pretty normal. It isn’t really a worry because, well, kids are pretty limber. They don’t typically stay down for very long.
As you get older though, that becomes less and less true. The older you get, the more worrisome a fall can be. To some extent, that’s because your bones tend to break more easily (and heal more slowly). Older individuals tend to spend more time lying on the floor in pain because they have a harder time getting back up. As a result, falls are the number one injury-connected cause of death in individuals older than 65.
That’s why tools and devices that can minimize falls are always being sought after by healthcare professionals. New research seems to indicate that we might have discovered one such device: hearing aids.
Can hearing loss lead to falls?
In order to understand why hearing aids can help prevent falls, it helps to ask a relevant question: is it feasible that hearing loss can raise your chance 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?
That connection isn’t exactly intuitive. Hearing loss doesn’t really, after all, impact your ability to move or see. But this type of direct impact on your mobility, and an increased risk of falling, can be a result of some hearing loss symptoms. Here are a few of those symptoms:
- High-pitched sounds get lost: You know how when you go into a concert hall, you instantly know that you’re in a spacious venue, even if your eyes are closed? Or when you get into a car and you immediately know you’re in a small space? That’s because your ears are utilizing high-frequency sounds to help you “echolocate,” basically. You will lose the ability to rapidly make those judgment calls when hearing loss causes you to lose those high-frequency tones. This can cause disorientation and loss of situational awareness.
- Exhaustion: Your brain is working overtime and you’re always straining when you have neglected hearing loss. Your brain will be continuously exhausted as a consequence. An exhausted brain is less likely to detect that obstacle in your path, and, as a consequence, you might wind up tripping and falling over something that an attentive brain would have detected.
- Depression: Social isolation and possibly even cognitive decline can be the outcome of untreated hearing loss. When you’re socially isolated, you may be more likely to spend time at home, where tripping hazards are everywhere, and be less likely to have help nearby.
- Your situational awareness is impaired: You may not be capable of hearing the sound of your neighbor’s footsteps, the barking dog next door, or an oncoming vehicle when you have neglected hearing loss. In other words, your situational awareness might be significantly impacted. Can you become clumsy like this because of hearing loss? Well, sort of, loss of situational awareness can make day-to-day tasks a bit more dangerous. And your risk of bumping into something and having a fall will be slightly higher.
- Loss of balance: How does hearing loss impact your balance? Well, your inner ear is incredibly significant to your overall equilibrium. So you might find yourself dizzy, experience vertigo, and lose your balance when hearing loss impacts the inner ear. Essentially, you have a tendency to fall more frequently.
Age is also a factor when it comes to hearing loss-related falls. You’re more likely to experience progressing and irreversible hearing loss. At the same time, you’re more likely to take a tumble. And when you’re older, falling can have much more severe consequences.
How can hearing aids help decrease falls?
If hearing loss is part of the issue, it makes sense that hearing aids would be part of the remedy. And new research has borne that out. Your danger of falling could be decreased by up to 50% based on one study.
In the past, these figures (and the link between hearing aids and remaining on your feet) were a bit fuzzier. That’s partly because individuals often fail to use their hearing aids. So it was inconclusive how often hearing aid users were falling. This was because people weren’t using their hearing aids, not because their hearing aids were broken.
But this new research took a different (and maybe more accurate) approach. People who wore their hearing aids frequently were put in a different group than those who used them intermittently.
So why does wearing your hearing aids help you avoid falls? In general, they keep you more alert, more concentrated, and less fatigued. The added situational awareness also helped. In addition, many hearing aids include safety features created to activate in the case of a fall. This can mean you get assistance faster (this is essential for people 65 or older).
Regularly wearing your hearing aids is the key here.
Prevent falls with new hearing aids
You will be able to remain close to your family members if you use hearing aids, not to mention catch up with friends.
They can also help you remain on your feet, literally!
Make an appointment with us today if you want to know more about how your quality of life can be enhanced.
