Kids tend to fall pretty much every day. Taking a spill on your bicycle? Not unusual. Tripping over your own feet when you’re running outside? Also pretty typical. Kids are very limber so, no big deal. They don’t typically stay down for long.
The same can’t be said as you age. The older you get, the more concerning a fall can be. One reason for this is that bones break easier and heal slower when you’re older. Older individuals might have a harder time standing back up after falling, so they spend more time in pain lying on the floor. Falling is the leading injury-related cause of death as a result.
It isn’t shocking, then, that healthcare professionals are always on the hunt for tools and devices that can lessen falls. New research seems to suggest that we may have determined one such device: hearing aids.
Can falls be caused by hearing loss
In order to determine why hearing aids can help prevent falls, it helps to ask a relevant question: does hearing loss make a fall more likely to begin with? It appears as if the answer might be, yes.
So you have to ask yourself, why would the risk of falling be raised by hearing loss?
There isn’t exactly an intuitive connection. After all, hearing loss doesn’t directly impact 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 an increased danger of falling. Here are some of those symptoms:
- High-frequency sounds get lost: When you go into a stadium, you know how even if you close your eyes, you can tell you’re in a large space? Or when you jump into a car and you immediately know you’re in close quarters? Your ears are actually utilizing something like “echolocation” and high-frequency sound to assist your spatial awareness. You will lose the ability to rapidly make those assessments when hearing loss causes you to lose those high-pitched tones. This can bring about disorientation and loss of situational awareness.
- Loss of balance: How is your balance impacted by hearing loss? Well, your inner ear is very important to your total equilibrium. So when hearing loss affects your inner ear, you might find yourself a bit more likely to grow dizzy, experience vertigo, or have trouble keeping your balance. As a result of this, you may fall down more frequently.
- You have less situational awareness: When you have untreated hearing loss, you might not be as able to hear that approaching vehicle, or the barking dog beside you, or the sound of your neighbor’s footsteps. Your situational awareness may be substantially impacted, in other words. Can you become clumsy like this because of hearing loss? Well, in a way yes, day-to-day activities can become more dangerous if your situational awareness is compromised. And that means you might be slightly more likely to unintentionally bump into something, and have a fall.
- Exhaustion: Your brain is working overtime and you’re always straining when you have untreated hearing loss. Your brain will be continuously tired as a result. An alert brain will notice and avoid obstacles, which will decrease the likelihood of having a fall.
- Depression: Social isolation and possibly even mental decline can be the result of neglected hearing loss. When you’re socially isolated, you might be more likely to spend time at home, where tripping dangers abound, and be less likely to have help nearby.
Age is also a consideration with regard to hearing loss-related falls. As you age, you’re more likely to develop irreversible and progressive hearing loss. At the same time, you’re more likely to take a tumble. And when you’re older, falling can have much more serious repercussions.
How can the risk of falling be decreased by using hearing aids?
It makes sense that hearing aids would be part of the solution when hearing loss is the issue. And this is being validated by new research. Your risk of falling could be lowered by as much as 50% based on one study.
The relationship between staying on your feet and hearing loss wasn’t always this evident. That’s to some extent because individuals often fail to wear their hearing aids. As a consequence, falls among “hearing aid users” were frequently inconclusive. This wasn’t because the hearing aids were malfunctioning, it was because individuals weren’t wearing them.
The method of this research was carried out differently and maybe more precisely. People who used their hearing aids now and again were separated from people who used them all of the time.
So why does using your hearing aids help you avoid falls? They keep you less exhausted, more concentrated, and generally more vigilant. It doesn’t hurt that you have increased situational awareness. In addition, many hearing aids include safety features designed to trigger in the case of a fall. Help will arrive faster this way.
But the key here is to make sure you’re wearing your hearing aids frequently and consistently.
Prevent falls with new hearing aids
You will be able to remain close to your loved ones if you wear hearing aids, not to mention catch up with friends.
They can also help you remain on your feet, literally!
Make an appointment with us right away if you want to find out more about how your quality of life can be enhanced.