Untreated Hearing Loss Could Lead to Isolation

If you’ve been struggling to hear, you know that hearing loss takes a toll on your relationships. You’ve been straining to hear in conversations and feel like you can’t communicate clearly with your loved ones. Did you know that hearing loss could lead to a serious case of social isolation?

Hearing Loss and Close Relationships

Communication is the key to healthy relationships, so it’s no wonder that a breakdown in communication weakens relationships or hurts the ones we love. How many times in the last week have you asked your spouse to repeat themselves, even if they’re talking about something as simple as what you want to make for dinner?

If you’ve experienced a breakdown in communication over the simple things, think about how much worse it is when you’re trying to talk about something important, or even just share the little things that make relationships meaningful. For seniors living with untreated hearing loss, close relationships often suffer, and home life can start to feel very lonely, since you and your spouse have stopped communicating effectively. It won’t be long before you’ll start to feel alone even when you’re together.

Hearing Loss and Friendships

It might not surprise you that those with hearing loss communicate less with their loved ones, but did you know that friendships also suffer? Think about the last time you met friends for dinner. Did you struggle to follow conversations, or miss the punchline of a joke? Did you fail to hear when someone across the table asked you a question? Those with hearing loss often face problems communicating with friends, and dislike meeting groups of friends in noisy places. They often choose to stay home rather than face the crowded restaurant, and their relationships suffer. Soon they start to experience social isolation and weakened friendships.

Hearing Loss and Daily Activities

If you’re living with hearing loss, even daily activities, like running to the grocery store, can be a challenge. Since you struggle to hear, you’re always afraid of running into a friend or neighbor in the store. They’ll want to stop and chat, but you feel embarrassed that you can’t hear them clearly or may answer inappropriately. Then there’s the girl at the checkout counter. She’s just trying to be friendly, but you can’t hear her questions when she’s not facing you, and you’re worried you come across as rude when you don’t answer her simple question about needing a bag.

Even ordering a coffee at your favorite cafe has become too difficult, so you choose to leave the shopping to your spouse, make coffee at home, and further isolate yourself. This leads to worse mental and physical health, as you reduce your social interactions and your overall activity.

Living with Social Isolation

A 2016 study at the University of British Colombia, Canada, looked at hearing data for seniors between the ages of 60 and 69, and found that for every 10-decibel drop in hearing ability, about equal to the sound of light breathing, the risk of social isolation increased by a whopping 52%! According to Paul Mick, researcher at the University of British Colombia, this “social isolation has been shown to have similar impacts on mortality rates as smoking and alcohol consumption” so it’s not something to be taken lightly.

If you have untreated hearing loss, social isolation can lead to a host of negative health outcomes. You’ll start to feel higher levels of stress and anxiety, and it’s common for those who feel isolated to struggle with depression. You will be less active, leave the house less often, and lose valuable friendships.

Treating Hearing Loss

If you’re living with untreated hearing loss, you’ve started to feel the affects of isolation. Maybe you’ve even experienced anxiety, depression, or embarrassment. Don’t let hearing loss dictate your life or rob you of your relationships with family and friends. Visit us at Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services for a hearing assessment, and to discuss your hearing health.

We work with the world’s leading hearing aid brands to make sure we have the hearing aid that will fit effortlessly into your lifestyle, whatever your hearing needs. Want a behind the ear device that easy to wear and use? Do you want an invisible device that sits so far in your ear canal you’ll never notice it? Whatever your needs, we have all the styles and programs to get you back to hearing, and to make sure you’ll never struggle with isolation again.