Connecting People | May is Better Hearing and Speech Month!

Spring is in full bloom and with the warmer weather and longer days comes a return to being more social, getting out, and making new connections. Have you found you’ve been having to ask people to repeat themselves more often than not? Do voices sound muffled sometimes to you? This could indicate an unaddressed hearing loss. This May is Better Hearing and Speech Month(BHSM), an annual campaign led by ASHA (American Speech-language-Hearing Institute) to promote awareness around hearing loss and other communication disorders. This year the theme of BHSM is “connecting people” with the hopes that people will feel empowered to connect by addressing hearing loss before it starts to affect the quality of your life in ways you may not even suspect.

Hearing Loss Impact on Older Adults

In the U.S., one in three adults over 65 years old experiences hearing loss, and this number rises to one in two for those over the age of 75. As we age it’s important to have our hearing checked annually for those of this age bracket. Unaddressed hearing loss can have rippling effects across our life. Once regarded as a mild health condition, numerous studies now link hearing loss to a host of emotional, physical, and cognitive health issues which impact the quality of life.

Hearing Loss Causes Social Isolation & Loneliness

Loneliness is often referred to as an endemic which has become increasingly worse due to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. As people sheltered at home existing issues of loneliness and isolation came to a head, causing millions of people across the globe to suffer from chronic depression, anxiety, and sleep issues. For those of us who suffer from hearing loss, loneliness is already an issue associated with the condition. It’s difficult to communicate with people when a hearing loss is undiagnosed or unaddressed. Parts of words are unintelligible such as high-frequency consonants such as “f”,”h”, and “s”. This leaves gaps that the brain is constantly trying to fill. This is not only frustrating but exhausting. All too often people with an undiagnosed hearing loss choose to avoid social situations altogether rather than deal with the devastating feelings of struggling through them.

The Health Risks of Loneliness

We as humans are social creatures who rely on social interaction to help us feel connecting and have a sense of belonging. When we can’t meet this basic need due to a hearing loss it’s more serious than many may suspect. Research has linked social isolation and loneliness to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease, and even death. Quickly, hearing loss and its connection link reveal themselves as far-reaching.

Studies on the Effects of Loneliness Connected to Hearing Loss

In 2014, a study published in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery discovered that hearing loss is associated with an increased risk of social isolation among older adults, especially women ages 60 to 69. Meanwhile, another substantial 2009 Dutch study revealed that for every decibel drop in hearing perception, the odds of becoming severely lonely increase by seven percent.

The Effects of Loneliness

Many regard loneliness as dangerous to the longevity of your life as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. Even more alarming, a study published in Jama Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery links loneliness and isolation raise the risk of dementia to a 40 percent increased risk of dementia by 50 percent, depression by 40 percent and falls by 30 percent. It’s important to take hearing loss seriously and if you suspect you have even a slight loss, make sure you have your hearing checked as soon as possible.

What You Can Do

The problem is that many people live with hearing loss for years without even realizing they have it. This is because hearing loss can often develop subtly over years without even being aware of the far-reaching devastating effects. This is why it’s important to schedule annual hearing exams. You can even use each May for BHSM is your yearly reminder to visit us. We can test your hearing and find the best solution for you to keep you connected to the people and the life you love.