Kids tend to fall pretty much every day. Wiping out on your bike? Not unusual. Getting tripped up while running across the yard. Happens every day. Kids are very limber so, no big deal. They don’t typically stay down for long.
As you grow older though, that becomes less and less true. Falling becomes more and more of a concern as you get older. One reason for this is that bones are more brittle and heal slower when you’re older. Older individuals may have a harder time standing back up after a fall, so they spend more time in pain on the floor. As a result, falls are the number one injury-related cause of death in individuals over 65.
It isn’t surprising, then, that healthcare professionals are always on the hunt for tools and devices that can lessen falls. Hearing aids could be just such a device according to research.
Can hearing loss bring about falls?
In order to understand why hearing aids can help prevent falls, it helps to ask a related question: is it possible that hearing loss can raise your risk of having a fall? It looks as though the answer may be, yes.
So why does hearing loss increase the danger of a fall for people?
There’s not really an intuitive link. Hearing loss doesn’t really, after all, impact your ability to move or see. But this sort of direct impact on your mobility, and an elevated risk of falling, can be a result of some hearing loss symptoms. Some of those symptoms include:
- Your situational awareness is impaired: You might not be able to hear the sound of your neighbor’s footsteps, the dog barking next door, or an oncoming vehicle when you have untreated hearing loss. In other words, your situational awareness might be substantially impacted. Can you become clumsy like this because of hearing loss? Well, sort of, loss of situational awareness can make day-to-day activities a little more hazardous. And your chance of stumbling into something and falling will be slightly higher.
- Loss of balance: How is your balance affected by hearing loss? Well, your inner ear is incredibly significant to your overall equilibrium. So when hearing loss impacts your inner ear, you may find yourself a little more likely to get dizzy, experience vertigo, or have trouble keeping your balance. Because of this, you could fall down more often.
- You’re unable to hear high-frequency sounds: You know how when you walk into a concert hall, you immediately detect that you’re in a spacious venue, even if you close your eyes? Or how you can instantly tell that you’re in a small space when you get into a car. Your ears are actually utilizing something like “echolocation” and high-frequency sound to assist your spatial awareness. When you’re unable to hear high-frequency sounds due to hearing loss, you can’t make those judgments quite as rapidly or easily. Loss of situational awareness and disorientation can be the consequences.
- Depression: Social solitude and possibly even mental decline can be the consequence of neglected hearing loss. You are likely to be at home a lot more when you’re socially isolated, and tripping hazards will be all around without anyone to help you.
- Exhaustion: Your brain is working overtime and you’re always straining when you have neglected hearing loss. Your brain will be continuously tired as a consequence. An attentive brain will notice and avoid obstacles, which will decrease the risk of falling.
Part of the connection between falling and hearing loss is also in your age. You’re more likely to develop 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 severe repercussions.
How can the danger of falling be decreased by using hearing aids?
It makes sense that hearing aids would be part of the remedy when hearing loss is the issue. And this is being confirmed by new research. One recent study discovered that using hearing aids could cut your risk of a fall in half.
The link between staying on your feet and hearing loss wasn’t always this evident. That’s partially because people often fail to wear their hearing aids. So it was inconclusive how frequently hearing aid users were having a fall. This was because people weren’t wearing their hearing aids, not because their hearing aids were malfunctioning.
But this new study took a different (and perhaps more accurate) strategy. Individuals who used their hearing aids now and again were segregated from individuals who wore them all of the time.
So why does using your hearing aids help you avoid falls? They keep you less exhausted, more concentrated, and generally more vigilant. It doesn’t hurt that you have added spatial awareness. Additionally, many hearing aids come with safety features designed to trigger in the case of a fall. This can mean you get assistance quicker (this is essential for people older than 65).
Consistently wearing your hearing aids is the key here.
Prevent falls with new hearing aids
Hearing aids can help you catch up with your friends, enjoy quality moments with your loved ones, and remain connected to everybody who’s significant in your life.
They can also help prevent a fall!
If you want to know more about how hearing aids could help you, schedule an appointment with us today.