Living with a disability, even if it’s partial, can be difficult and frustrating. In this regard, hearing aids have come as a saviour for people suffering from hearing loss.
There are various types of hearing aids, each one for different requirements of the patients. Among the more common digital hearing aids, people can opt for any of the following styles: behind-the-ear (BTE), in-the-ear (ITE), in-the-canal (ITC) or completely-in-canal (CIC).
Here are a few ways hearing aids have changed people’s lives.
1. Better hearing
Hearing aids have three principle parts: a microphone, an amplifier and a speaker. The microphone is the part that picks up on the sound waves from the source and converts them into electrical signals or numerical codes. The signal is then sent to the amplifier. The amplifier, as its name suggests, then increases the strength of the signal. This makes the sound louder. The amplified sound is then sent to your ears through the speaker. Thus, hearing aids can help one overcome hearing loss.
2. Slows down cognitive decline
Hearing loss has shown to retard a person’s cognitive skills. Cognitive functions could include any brain-based activities, like reading, learning, reasoning etc. Therefore, hearing aids can slow down a person’s cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.
3. Reduced risk of depression
The five sense organs we have are key to smooth communication within the community. With hearing loss, one of the sense organs stops functioning. That can easily create situations of miscommunication or communicating, as a whole, can become difficult. Naturally, this can make a person feel cornered and isolated and thus, push them into depression. With hearing aids, the hearing sense can certainly be restored, albeit artificially. It can help people to socialize again and therefore, significantly reduces chances of depression in the audibly challenged.
4. Helps overcome loneliness
As we discussed before, hearing loss can come in between two people conversing. This can definitely cause loneliness, which can in turn cause mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. Hearing aids can actually help people to socialize normally, thus helping them overcome loneliness.
5. Reduces stress
Dealing with a disability can be frustrating, as carrying out simple daily activities could be a huge task. Researches have shown audibly impaired people to be more stressed than the general population. Therefore, hearing aids can also reduce people’s stress to quite a significant level.
6. Retarded development of dementia
Hearing loss can often accelerate the rate of the cellular atrophy in the cerebrum that eventually leads to dementia. This cerebral atrophy is seen to slow down on wearing hearing aids.
7. Diminished tinnitus
Tinnitus is the high-pitched, annoying noise that goes in the ear when a person suffers from hearing loss. The sound can be low to moderate to loud, but in any case it can cause irritation. Wearing the hearing aid with the correct configuration can actually diminish the sound to a large degree.
8. Ability to differentiate between noise and sound
In older times, when analogue hearing aids prevailed, people were unable to distinguish noise from sounds, as they could with their natural ability to hear. But with digital hearing aids taking over, people were able to tell the difference between a noise and a sound. This is because digital hearing aids convert sound waves to numerical codes that carry information about the frequency or pitch of the sound wave. Thus, being able to distinguish between noise and sound brought the experience of wearing a hearing aid closer to the natural one.
Do not worry about the pocket pinch that hearing aids can cause. The Bajaj Finserv Digital Health EMI Network Card is the one-stop solution to convert all your medical expenses, including diagnostic bills, pharmacy bills and others, into affordable and easy EMIs. You can avail the health card online and get access to a pre-approved limit of up to Rs. 4 lakh.