Hearing Loss and Quality of Life

For most people, hearing loss is not an overnight experience. Typically, hearing deteriorates over time as a life time of exposure to excessive levels of noise and the normal aging process take their toll. So, most people don’t even notice how significant their hearing loss has become because the loss came on so gradually. 

As a result, it is not uncommon for people to adjust their lifestyle to “address” the difficulties their deteriorating hearing is actually creating. Lifestyle changes like, withdrawing from multi-talker conversations, using a spouse as a substitute set of ears, experiencing gradually increasing feelings of isolation, and even depression have all been linked to deteriorating hearing ability.  The unfortunate thing is that many of these lifestyle compromises can be avoided simply by wearing hearing instruments or using other devices that can improve communication ability.