Tag Archive for: Dec Post 3

An illustration of a business woman wrangling a meter measuring her attitude with a rope

5 Simple Ways to Boost Your Mood This Winter

Hearing Health and Mental Health Have a Clear Connection

In fact, untreated hearing loss increases your risk of depression, anxiety, social isolation, and more. Winter is also a prime time for seasonal blahs. If you could use a little mental-health boost, here are some simple ways to get started.

 

Express Gratitude

Gratitude improves happiness, well-being, and mental health. The best-researched method is keeping a gratitude journal. Once or twice a week, choose one act or person you’re grateful for and write a few sentences detailing why. In daily life, you’ll begin to seek out the positive — rather than the negative — and writing it down allows you to really savor that positive emotion.

 

Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, which relieve stress and boost your mood. You can even use small things that add more activity to your day, like skipping the elevator in favor of the stairs or taking a short, brisk walk. If you work from home, tackle chores that require you to walk to another room or — better yet — another floor. Aim for 30 minutes a day.

 

Spoil Your Senses

Use your senses to quickly find calm. For some people, it’s an uplifting song or the smell of ground coffee. For others, it’s squeezing a stress ball. Each person’s relationship to their senses is a little different, so experiment to figure out what works best to bring you back to center.

 

Lose Yourself

Doing something you love, something you know you can lose yourself in, allows you to forget about life for a while. You don’t have to be a parent, a spouse, or an employee — you can just be.

 

Find a Furry Friend

Interacting with a pet lowers cortisol — the stress hormone — and raises oxytocin — the feel-good hormone. It also lowers blood pressure and eases loneliness and depression. Don’t have a pet? Walk a friend’s dog, volunteer to cat-sit for a vacationing neighbor, or volunteer at a shelter.

Contact us to learn more about the hearing health-mental health connection!

Sources:

Harvard Health Publishing. Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier Accessed July 14, 2023.

American Psychological Association. Exercise: A Healthy Stress Reliever. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/exercise. Accessed July 14, 2023.

Niazi, Y, et al. Impact of Hearing Impairment on Psychological Distress and Subjective Well-Being in Older Adults. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2020 Sep-Oct; 36(6): 1210–1215.

Johns Hopkins Medicine. The Friend Who Keeps You Young. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-friend-who-keeps-you-young. Accessed July 14, 2023.

an illustration of tiny hearing care doctors providing care for a patient

Tips to Help You Live Longer With Hearing Loss

It’s Not Just About Hearing

Hearing loss can affect not only your well-being but your overall quality of life as well. If you have hearing loss, read on for ways to be the happiest, healthiest you.

Hearing Loss and Falls Are Linked

Research backs up the connection between hearing loss and falls. In one study, those with at least a mild hearing loss fell more often than those with healthy hearing. In fact, the odds of a fall increased as hearing loss worsened — falls were 1.4 times more likely for each 10-decibel increase in hearing loss.

One possible cause is that hearing loss robs your brain of resources. As more brainpower becomes devoted to hearing, less is available for postural control, which increases the risk of falling.

According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA):

  • Falling is the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries for older Americans.
  • Falls threaten safety and independence, and they generate enormous economic and personal costs.
  • Falls result in more than 3 million injuries treated in emergency departments annually, including over 800,000 hospitalizations.

Hearing Technology Can Help

In a study from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, participants with hearing loss had better balance when using hearing aids than when they didn’t. Senior author Timothy E. Hullar explained they seemed to use “the sound information coming through their hearing aids as auditory reference points or landmarks to help maintain balance.”

Lifestyle and Hearing Are Linked

A study done by Age and Ageing looked at hearing loss alongside disability and mortality in older men. The study found that, compared with those with no hearing loss, those with hearing loss have a greater risk of mobility problems and difficulties when performing daily activities. It also found that men with hearing loss have a greater risk of dying of any cause.

In a different study, it was reported that hearing loss is 5.5 times more prevalent in men than in women. In particular, those with high blood pressure and diabetes, as well as smokers of more than 20 years, are more likely to have a hearing loss.

Hearing Technology Can Help

study done by the National Council on Aging found that people who used hearing aids reported an increased sense of independence and safety, as well as improvements in depression, anxiety, and social isolation compared with the time before they treated their hearing loss.

Nutrition Affects Your Hearing

Nutrients are a great first-line defense against hearing loss, especially folate and omega-3 fatty acids.

Folate, a B vitamin, helps prevent age-related hearing loss. It does this by regulating the amount of homocysteine (an amino acid) in your system. A lack of homocysteine reduces blood flow to the inner ear, resulting in hearing loss. Good sources of folate include broccoli, leafy green vegetables, pulses, and liver.

Omega-3 fatty acids are a building block of your cell membranes. They fight inflammation, too. These are two properties that make omega-3 fatty acids ideal protectors of hearing health, and research backs this up. It’s well established that omega-3 fatty acids do, indeed, prevent age-related hearing loss. Good sources of this nutrient are fish, nuts, seeds, plant oils, and fortified foods.

Hearing Technology Can Help

If you do have age-related hearing loss, it’s easy to miss out on children laughing in another room, birds chirping, or your sweetheart’s whispered “I love you.” It’s these little moments that make life so rich. But hearing technology is now so advanced that you can adjust your settings to your surroundings.


Don’t miss another moment — contact us today!

Q&A: How Can I Help a Loved One With Hearing Loss?

Q&A: How Can I Help a Loved One With Hearing Loss?

Get a Head Start With These Inspiring Ideas

Paying It Forward Means Even More

Q: As someone with firsthand experience tackling hearing loss, how can I help a loved one who’s having hearing difficulty?

A: Kudos for wanting to help lift those around you! If you’ve been treated for hearing loss, you know the difference it can make in your quality of life. So how can you pay it forward if someone you care about has hearing issues? Here are 6 tips you can use.

 

1. Recognize the Signs

Hearing loss prevalence continues to climb, with the World Health Organization estimating it will affect 10% of the population by 2050. But not everyone with hearing difficulties is ready to admit it. Knowing some of the signs of hearing loss — loud TV volumes, trouble talking on the phone, frequent requests to repeat words, increased social isolation — can be the start of a life-changing conversation.

 

2. Share Your Story

Research indicates hearing aid wearers, on average, waited over a decade after a hearing loss diagnosis before getting their hearing technology. That’s a lot of time potentially missing out on the sounds of life — not to mention the physical, mental, social, and even financial consequences tied to untreated hearing loss. Sharing your better-hearing journey may inspire your loved one to kick-start their own.

 

3. Lend an Ear

Seeking hearing help may be a lot easier with the support of family and friends. If your loved one is thinking about taking the path to better hearing, it can make a big difference when you:

 

  • Offer emotional support, patience, and encouragement
  • Serve as a sounding board for their hearing-health goals
  • Help them take note of their most challenging listening situations

 

4. Flex Your Skills

Whether streaming from audio devices, connecting to hearing loops, interfacing with smart-home technology, or tracking brain health, today’s modern hearing devices are chock-full of beneficial functions. We love helping patients get the most from their hearing aids, but imparting your own tips, tricks, and favorite apps goes a long way, too. Share your discoveries with a fun “tutorial.”

5. Learn Sign Language

How about picking up another language — sign language! American Sign Language (ASL) is one such form of communication common in the U.S. and Canada, and other types of sign-based languages abound around the world, too. It’s no secret that language builds connections across experiences, abilities, and cultures — think of travelers, for example, who make an effort to communicate as the local citizens do — so consider learning some key ASL words, phrases, and sentences that you can use.

 

6. Remember Self-Care

 

In the bustle of the season, you might forget to keep your own hearing health at its best. But as friends and family gather near and far, it’s a perfect reason to get your hearing — and your hearing technology — checked. Not only do adults treated for hearing loss report significant improvements in relationships, mental health, social engagement, and other crucial areas, but their loved ones report improvements, too. So take care of yourself — for them and for you.

 

Do your New Year’s goals include better hearing? Whether your loved one needs a hearing evaluation or it’s been a while since your own checkup, our caring team can help. So don’t wait. Contact us to schedule a personalized appointment today!