Introduction
Listening to music is a very personal act, but now you can improve your hearing health and well-being with a pair of hearing aids. Hearing aids are small electronic devices that you wear in your ear to amplify sound. They can help people suffering from age-related hearing loss or those with noise-induced hearing loss as well as those with tinnitus or hyperacusis – all of which lead to distress and difficulties in daily life.
It does not stop there though; many people also use them to improve their general health, including their heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a proven marker of health and well-being, and using hearing aids can improve your HRV. This in turn can lead to better sleep and energy as well as improved ability to handle stress.
How To Use Hearing Aids For Better Sleep
Hearing aids should make you more alert and aware of your environment. They should be used to improve your general health and well-being instead of just making noises around you.
There are two ways that hearing aids can improve your sleep.
1. Better Sound Quality When you wear hearing aids, you expose your ears to a sound that is much louder compared to what they are used to. This is called neural adaptation where the brain begins to work harder after it has received the loud sound from the hearing aids. This phenomenon leads to an improvement in your sleep because now your brain does not turn down its activity levels anymore and this explains why many people who have begun using hearing aids have reported improvements in their sleep quality.
2. White Noise The sound that you hear through your hearing aids can be very loud especially when it is a recording. When you wear hearing aids, you could use a white noise for your listening session. This will result in a more comfortable sleep for you. Just make sure that the white noise doesn’t distract your brain from falling asleep which may leave you sleepless the next morning or wake you up during the night.
Improving Health With Hearing Aids
Many people who have begun using hearing aids have reported improvements in their sleep quality and their ability to handle stress. It is thought that this is because the brain begins to work harder after it has received the loud sound from the hearing aids, a phenomenon called neural adaptation where the brain is more active. In other words, it needs the aid of more sound for it to function properly. Once this happens, your brain does not turn down its activity levels anymore when you take off your hearing aids.
Improve Your Health And Well-Being With Hearing Aids
1. Improve Sleep Patterns
One of the most common reasons why hearing-impaired people find it difficult to sleep at night is because of tinnitus. Hearing aids can help diminish the effects of tinnitus thus improving your sleep quality. You can choose to use a white noise generator with your hearing aid to further drown out any sounds that might be distracting when you are trying to sleep.
What’s more, if you have hyperacusis, a condition characterized by an extreme sensitivity to sound, then wearing a hearing aid alone may not help much since its volume will be too low for you.
2. Improve HRV
When hearing aids are used, people report that their heart rate variability improves. HRV is a measure of the fluctuations in your heartbeat as well as the efficiency of your cardio-respiratory system. When you have an elevated heart rate variability, your risk of cardiovascular disease increases considerably. This is due to a lower tolerance for stress and the inability to control it – both of which are essential for cardiovascular health.
The increased sound level offered by hearing aids can help improve cardiac function just like regular aerobic exercises do. However, the significant benefit will be felt in case you use them in conjunction with regular cardio exercisers who can reap the added benefits.
Improve Your Health And Well-Being With Hearing Aids
3. Improve Memory
In a study published in 2005, it was reported that hearing-impaired people were able to retain more information when they wore hearing aids in comparison to those who did not. Interestingly, the improvement does not only come from the aid itself but also from the fact that using hearing aids helps stimulate the brain’s neurotransmitters. The result is an enhancement of memories, as well as a better ability to process information.
4. Improve Motor Response
Those with hearing loss commonly complain of hand tremors and trouble walking. However, by using hearing aids you can improve your motor response as well as your balance. This is possible because the brain’s auditory cortex starts paying more attention to the sounds surrounding you, thus improving your balance and reducing hand shakes.
Improve Your Health And Well-Being With Hearing Aids
5. Increase Mental Health
When a person has hearing loss, they can become withdrawn and depressed since they have shut themselves out of the world around them. By wearing a pair of hearing aids, their brain’s responsiveness will be enhanced thus giving them a reason to venture back into the world again. The result is increased socialization and better mental health.
6. Improve Your Emotional Health
It has been said that people with hearing loss, especially profound loss, feel as if they have lost a part of themselves. This can lead to anger, frustration and emotional imbalance. By using hearing aids, you can enhance your emotional health and reduce the symptoms of depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders.
Improve Your Health And Well-Being With Hearing Aids
Conclusion
Hearing aids have actually been used for decades by both adults and children alike. However, they are only now becoming common among the deaf population especially in urban areas of the United States. There are quite a number of people who still avoid using hearing aids because they think that their lack of hearing will not benefit them. On the contrary, this is not true at all as there are many advantages that you can enjoy when using these devices. Improving your health will surely make you happier not only in your own self but also in the community around you. As such, many people now opt for hearing aids not only because of their love for music but also for their love for better health when it is needed most.