When you’re a kid, falling is simply a part of life. Wiping out on your bike? Not unusual. Stumbling over your own feet when you’re running outside? Happens all of the time. Kids are very limber so, no big deal. They don’t typically stay down for very long.
As you get older though, that becomes less and less true. The older you get, the more concerning a fall can be. In part, that’s because your bones tend to break more easily (and heal more slowly). Older individuals may have a more difficult time standing back up after a tumble, so they spend more time in pain lying on the floor. As a result, falls are the number one injury-connected cause of death in people over 65.
That’s why tools and devices that can reduce falls are always being sought out by healthcare professionals. New research appears to indicate that we may have discovered one such device: hearing aids.
Can falls be caused by hearing loss
In order to understand why hearing aids can help avert falls, it helps to ask a related question: is it possible that hearing loss can raise your chance of having a fall? It looks as if the answer might be, yes.
So you have to ask yourself, why would the risk of falling be increased by hearing loss?
There’s not really an intuitive link. After all, hearing loss doesn’t directly influence your ability to move or see. But it turns out there are some symptoms of hearing loss that do have this kind of direct impact on your ability to move around, and these symptoms can lead to a higher risk of falling. Here are some of those symptoms:
- Loss of balance: How can hearing loss effect your balance? Well, your overall balance depends heavily on your inner ear. So you may find yourself dizzy, experience vertigo, and lose your balance when hearing loss affects the inner ear. Essentially, you have a tendency to fall more frequently.
- You’re unable to hear high-frequency sounds: You know how when you walk into a concert hall, you instantly know that you’re in a large venue, even if your eyes are closed? Or how you can immediately detect that you’re in a small space when you get into a car. That’s because your ears are using high-frequency sounds to help you “echolocate,” basically. When you’re unable to hear high-frequency sounds due to hearing loss, you can’t make those judgments quite as quickly or intuitively. This can cause disorientation and loss of situational awareness.
- You have less situational awareness: You may not be able to hear the sound of your neighbor’s footsteps, the dog barking next door, or an approaching vehicle when you have neglected hearing loss. In other words, your situational awareness might be significantly impacted. Can you become clumsy in this way as a result of hearing loss? Well, sort of, loss of situational awareness can make everyday tasks a little more hazardous. And that means you may be a little bit more likely to unintentionally bump into something, and take a tumble.
- Exhaustion: Your brain is working overtime and you’re always straining when you have neglected hearing loss. Your brain will be continuously exhausted as a consequence. An attentive brain will notice and avoid obstacles, which will decrease the chance of falling.
- Depression: Social isolation and maybe even mental decline can be the consequence of untreated hearing loss. You are likely to be at home a lot more when you’re socially isolated, and tripping dangers will be all around without anybody to help you.
Part of the link between falling and hearing loss is also in your age. You’re more likely to develop progressing and irreversible hearing loss. That will raise the likelihood of falling. Consequently, when you get older, falls are more likely to have severe consequences.
How can hearing aids help reduce falls?
It makes sense that hearing aids would be part of the remedy when hearing loss is the problem. And this is being confirmed by new research. One recent study discovered that wearing hearing aids could cut your chance of a fall in half.
In the past, these figures (and the link between hearing aids and remaining upright) were a bit less clear. That’s partly because people often fail to wear their hearing aids. So it was inconclusive how frequently hearing aid users were falling. This was because individuals weren’t wearing their hearing aids, not because their hearing aids were broken.
The method of this research was carried out differently and maybe more accurately. Individuals who wore their hearing aids frequently were put in a different group than people who wore them occasionally.
So how can you avoid falls by using hearing aids? In general, they keep you more vigilant, more concentrated, and less fatigued. The increased situational awareness doesn’t hurt either. Many hearing aids also include a feature that can alert the authorities and family members if a fall happens. Help will arrive faster this way.
Regularly using your hearing aids is the key here.
Prevent falls with new hearing aids
You will be able to remain close to your family members if you use hearing aids, not to mention catch up with friends.
They can also help prevent a fall!
If you want to find out more about how hearing aids could help you, make an appointment with us right away.