As of late, Chris has been somewhat forgetful. For the second month in a row, she missed her doctor’s appointment and has to reschedule. And before she went to bed she even overlooked running the dishwasher (looks like this morning she will need to handwash her coffee cup). Lately, she’s been allowing things slip through the cracks. Chris has been feeling mentally exhausted and drained all the time but, curiously, she doesn’t feel forgetful.
Only when that feeling is sneaking up on you, will you start to recognize it. But despite how forgetful you may feel, the problem isn’t really about memory. The real issue is your hearing. And that means there’s one small device, a hearing aid, that can help you significantly improve your memory.
How to Improve Your All-around Cognitive Function And Memory
So, the first step you can take to improve your memory, to get everybody’s name right at your next meeting or to make sure you arrange that day off for your dentist appointment, is to have your hearing checked. If you have hearing loss a hearing exam will let you know how bad your impairment is.
Chris hasn’t noticed any symptoms of hearing loss yet so she hesitates to make an appointment. She can hear in noisy rooms fairly well enough. And when she’s at work, she doesn’t have an issue hearing team members.
But she might have some amount of hearing loss despite the fact that she hasn’t detected any symptoms yet. In fact, memory loss is often one of the very first noticeable symptoms of hearing loss. And strain on the brain is the underlying cause. Here’s how it works:
- Your hearing starts to diminish, probably so slowly you don’t realize.
- However slight, your ears begin to detect a lack of sound input.
- The sounds that you can hear, have to be boosted and translated which causes your brain to work extra hard.
- Everything seems to be normal, but it takes more effort on your brain’s part to comprehend the sounds.
That type of continual strain can be a real drag on your brain’s finite resources. So you don’t have as much mental energy for things like, well, memory or for other cognitive processes.
Dementia And Hearing Loss
When memory loss is extreme, the result might be dementia. And dementia and hearing loss do have a connection, though there are a number of other factors involved and the cause and effect relationship continues to be somewhat uncertain. Still, there is an elevated risk of cognitive decline with individuals who have neglected hearing loss, which can start as memory loss and ultimately (over the years) develop into more extreme concerns.
Wearing Hearing Aids Will Help You Avoid Fatigue
That’s why dealing with your hearing loss is indispensable. As stated in one study, 97.3% of individuals with hearing loss who used hearing aids for at least 18 months showed a significant stabilization or increase in their cognitive functions.
Similar benefits have been noted in various other studies. Hearing aids are really helpful. When your brain doesn’t need to work quite as hard, your overall cognitive function improves. Sure, a hearing aid isn’t an absolute cure, cognitive decline or memory problems can be a complicated combination of factors and elements.
Memory Loss Can be The First Sign of Hearing Loss
This sort of memory loss is commonly temporary, it’s a sign of exhaustion more than an underlying change in the way your brain functions. But that can change if the fundamental problems remain un-addressed.
So if you’re noticing some loss of memory, it can be an early warning of hearing loss. You should make an appointment with your hearing specialist as soon as you detect these symptoms. Your memory will likely return to normal when your fundamental hearing problems are addressed.
As an added bonus, your hearing health will likely get better, as well. The decline in your hearing will be slowed considerably by using hearing aids. These little devices, in a sense, will improve your general health not only your hearing.