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There’s a common statistic that individuals with hearing loss wait an average of seven years before seeking treatment — and a lot can happen in those seven years. Hearing loss may have affected your life in any number of ways, including:
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Your Family
In many cases, frustration over having to ask for words to be repeated is what spurs us to make a change and pursue better hearing. When hearing loss causes someone to isolate themselves from the people and activities they love, it also often hurts family and friends; they too suffer the consequences of that hearing loss. Better communication is the key to most relationships — with friends, family, romance, or business — and that starts with better hearing.
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Your Happiness
A decline in quality of life is strongly associated with hearing loss, with a variety of areas affected: income potential, social life, overall well-being, mental health, and self-esteem. As stated, social isolation may also cause you to miss out on doing the things that you enjoy because you can’t hear well enough to fully experience them.
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Your Safety
A national study of survey data indicated that a mild hearing loss (a loss in hearing ability of at least 25 decibels) was associated with a threefold increase in falls. More attention paid and brainpower devoted to hearing means less attention and brainpower available for other things, such as awareness of your surroundings. This is a safety hazard, and it becomes more impactful as hearing loss worsens. An inability to hear a car horn, an ambulance siren, a fire alarm — any signal that alerts you to danger — can put you and those you care about at risk.
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Your Work
Individuals with an untreated hearing loss earn less on average than those with normal hearing, and they have lower lifetime earnings. Many types of hearing loss disrupt speech and might make you miss out on important details — details that help you do your job more effectively. Treating your hearing loss can help you become more valuable to your employer, which increases your financial security.