When you’re a kid, falling is simply a part of life. Taking a spill on your bicycle? Not unusual. Getting tripped up when 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 much more of a concern as you age. One reason for this is that bones are more brittle and heal slower when you’re older. Older individuals tend to spend more time lying on the floor in pain because they have a harder time getting back up. Consequently, falls are the number one injury-connected cause of death in people over 65.
It isn’t shocking, then, that healthcare professionals are always on the lookout for tools and devices that can lessen falls. New research appears to suggest that we might have found one such device: hearing aids.
Can hearing loss bring about falls?
If you want to fully grasp how hearing aids could possibly prevent a fall, you need to ask this related question: is it possible that hearing loss can raise your risk of having a fall? It appears as though the answer might be, yes.
So you have to ask yourself, why would the danger of falling be increased by hearing loss?
That link isn’t really that intuitive. Hearing loss doesn’t really, after all, impact your ability to see or move. 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:
- Loss of balance: How is your balance affected by hearing loss? Well, your general balance depends heavily on your inner ear. So when hearing loss impacts your inner ear, you might find yourself a little more likely to grow dizzy, experience vertigo, or have trouble maintaining your balance. As a result of this, you may fall down more frequently.
- Depression: Neglected hearing loss can result in social solitude and depression (along with an increased danger of dementia). You are likely to stay home a lot more when you’re socially separated, and tripping dangers 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. This means your brain is tired more often than not. A weary brain is less likely to detect that obstacle in your path, and, as a result, you might end up tripping and falling over something that an attentive brain would have detected.
- You have less situational awareness: 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. Your situational awareness may be substantially affected, in other words. Can you become clumsy in this way because of hearing loss? Well, kind of, loss of situational awareness can make day-to-day activities a bit more dangerous. And your chance of stumbling into something and falling will be a little higher.
- You can’t hear high-frequency sounds: You know how when you go into an auditorium, you instantly know that you’re in a spacious venue, even if your eyes are closed? Or how you can instantly tell that you’re in a small space when you get into a car. Your ears are actually using something similar to “echolocation” and high-frequency sound to help your spatial awareness. You will lose the ability to rapidly make those judgment calls when hearing loss causes you to lose those high-pitched tones. Loss of situational awareness and disorientation can be the outcome.
Part of the connection between hearing loss and falling is also in your age. You’re more likely to develop progressing and irreversible 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 risk of falling be reduced by wearing hearing aids?
It makes sense that hearing aids would be part of the remedy when hearing loss is the issue. And this is being validated by new research. One recent study revealed that wearing hearing aids could cut your risk of a fall in half.
In the past, these numbers (and the relationship between hearing aids and remaining on your feet) were a little bit fuzzier. Partly, that’s because not everybody wears their hearing aids all of the time. So it was inconclusive how often hearing aid users were falling. This wasn’t because the hearing aids weren’t working, it was because people weren’t using them.
The approach of this research was carried out differently and maybe more precisely. People who wore their hearing aids now and then were separated from people who used them all of the time.
So how can you avoid falls by wearing hearing aids? They keep you less fatigued, more concentrated, and generally more vigilant. It doesn’t hurt that you have added spatial awareness. Many hearing aids also include a feature that can notify the authorities and family members if a fall happens. This can mean you get help quicker (this is critical for individuals older than 65).
Regularly wearing your hearing aids is the trick here.
Get your fall prevention devices today
Hearing aids can help you catch up with your friends, enjoy quality moments with your loved ones, and remain in touch with everybody who’s important in your life.
They can also help prevent a fall!
Schedule an appointment with us right away if you want to know more about how your quality of life can be enhanced.