Surprising Hearing Loss Side Effects To Know

Often, when a loved one is experiencing hearing loss, it’s easy to assume that their condition affects nothing more than their ears. However, hearing loss makes it more difficult for an individual to communicate with the world around them and can cause the individual to experience additional hearing loss side effects.

The body is a complex mechanism, and when one of the senses isn’t working correctly, it can throw the rest of the body out of whack. To better understand how hearing loss can impact someone’s entire body, the team at El Dorado Hearing has put together a list of surprising hearing loss side effects to know so you can help avoid them.

Stomach Issues

When an individual cannot hear well or at all, they may have difficulty communicating, especially when in noisy environments. As a result, they may experience increased stress levels when entering into situations where they worry about actively participating in conversations. This pent-up stress can manifest itself in various forms, from anxiety to headaches, but stomach issues are the most common side effects.

You’ll often find that a person with hearing loss experiences frequent stomach aches ranging from mild to severe that include symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal cramps. While most individuals may experience similar symptoms before introductory presentations or meetings, a hard-of-hearing individual is more likely to experience these stomach issues before any social situation where they may not hear or communicate effectively. Treating the individual’s hearing loss reduces the risk of the stomach problems transitioning into something worse like irritable bowel syndrome.

Cognitive Decline

To accurately hear and comprehend conversations and noises, both the ear and brain need to be working correctly. While the ear is how individuals listen to sounds, we rely on our brains to process the noise. When an individual experiences nerve-type or sensorineural hearing loss, their brain cannot correctly translate the sound into an understandable noise, making it difficult to understand what others are saying.

Because the brain relies on less and less as their hearing worsens, the individual may demonstrate signs of cognitive decline. Signs of cognitive decline may include forgetting things regularly, forgetting important dates or events, or losing their train of thought in the middle of conversations. Using hearing aids to introduce sounds into the ear will help the brain process the noise and keep the mind active and stimulated.

Vertigo

Vertigo is the overwhelming feeling of dizziness and disorientation often caused by problems with the inner ear. It may come as a surprise, but the ears play a significant role in helping the body maintain balance. Because of this, those with hearing loss are more likely to experience vertigo or dizziness.

Those with vertigo will often experience the sensation of spinning, swaying, or feeling unbalanced, as well as bouts of nausea, sweating, hearing loss, ringing in the ears, and headaches. This vertigo may also cause the individual to appear clumsy and trip or fall more frequently, leading to broken bones or other injuries. As we age, it becomes even more important to get proper treatment for hearing loss because our bones begin to weaken over time. This means that a trip caused by vertigo that once left you with only a scraped knee may now result in a broken bone or worse.

Depression

They cannot hear the world around you can cause an individual to retreat from society. Those with hearing loss may avoid social gatherings or situations because of a loud or noisy environment that makes it hard to participate in the conversation. As a result, their friendships or relationships may suffer, causing them to feel even more isolated. Without hearing aids or treatment for hearing loss, a patient with hearing loss is more likely to feel socially isolated and withdrawn in group settings, increasing the risk of depression. If you have a family member, friend, or another person in your life who is having difficulty hearing, seeking treatment is the best way for them to maintain a positive outlook and maintain healthy relationships. Hearing aids can help them interact more confidently in social settings and feel connected to their community, reducing their chances of social isolation and depression.

Encourage a Hearing Test with El Dorado Hearing

If you have a family member, friend, or another person in your life who is having difficulty hearing, seeking treatment is the best way for them to avoid these surprising side effects. Our team can provide a hearing evaluation and provide a recommended treatment plan that will allow them to communicate more effectively with the world around them, helping to ease some of the burdens on their mind and body.

Schedule an appointment with El Dorado Heating for a hearing evaluation to get the necessary treatment.