Hearing Loss Could Restrict Mobility & Quality of Life

Are you starting to notice that your hearing is going?  Perhaps you are having to ask people to repeat themselves more than you used to.  Perhaps it’s the people closest to you that might have even sugested that you get your hearing tested.  While you might think that if your hearing is going it will only affect your ears, nothing could be further from the truth. Living with hearing loss, and not treating properly equals setting yourself up for a range of other serious health problems. When you have hearing loss unseen limitations can impede the quality of your daily life. A recent study from Finland highlighted that hearing loss often limits individual’s personal freedom in the way people navigate their lives, reducing personal independence physically and emotionally. The study mapped the “life space” of 848 people between 75 and 90 years old.

What is “Life Space?”

The Finnish researchers used several factors to determine what comprises a person’s “life space”. Life Space is defined as a spatial representation of all the forces that control a person’s behavior. ” In a more general sense, the term “life-space describes the whole social emotional, physical organizational and environmental context in which a person’s life takes place. It often describes where people move in their day-to-day life, as well as how many times they go places, and whether or not they require assistance to move where ever they go.

Participants who had hearing loss were twice as likely as those without hearing loss to limit their movements to a familiar radius close to their home. While a small “life space” isn’t necessarily a negative thing, restricted mobility is often an indicator of a declining quality of life.

Hearing Loss and Social Spaces

It is not surprise that hearing loss if untreated could affect how you navigate social spaces.  If you cannot hear what is being said it is way too tempting to avoid social spaces at all. Sadly being social is all too important to us as humans who are social creatures. Anthropologists consider conversation to be the cornerstone of social interaction and social life, a tool for exchanging, sharing, and constructing meaning, knowledge, and identities.

If you start to notice that you or a loved one has gradually forgone activities once enjoyed, like going out to restaurants, concerts or parties, there is a good chance there is a struggle to hear what is being said. The more people withdraw from social situations the more their independence is compromised as they opt to spend more time at home rather exploring new environments where hearing is often an issue.

Hearing Loss and Mobility

Hearing loss has many ways of limiting your mobility and can influence how you approach the world, in both unfamiliar and familiar settings. When you can’t hear warning sounds from the road as you operate your car it can become a dangerous hazard. Public transportation becomes just as much of a hurtle when you are hard of hearing, as it is far too easy to miss important travel information about your stop on the train or bus. With these limitations, traveling to unfamiliar locations can produce extraneous anxiety and frustration.

Hearing Loss and Lack of Independence

Often a person feels less independent when they rely on others to communicate to them the sounds and signals around them.  The effects of hearing loss are more than just an inconvenience. Untreated hearing loss can have a major impact on cognitive function and therefore a person’s sense of independence. This lack of stimulation for the brain can lead to auditory deprivation, which is a direct factor in an increased risk rate of dementia.

Seek Treatment Today

The good news is that hearing aids can make a world of difference.  The Finish study concluded that the quality of life of a hearing-impaired person has the potential to be transformed when the patients sought out and followed treatment. Find a provider through Fit Hearing Audiology Network to set up a hearing test.  Our providers help you find the best hearing aids for your lifestyle and help you learn how to utilize them for their ultimate benefit.  The sooner you act the sooner you can get back to the social life you love and so dearly need.