We have suspected for a long time that if you do not use your hearing, you lose your ability to understand speech.
We now have research that shows exactly that.
Anu Sharma, PhD, professor at the Center for Neuroscience and the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder has shown that untreated hearing loss leads to loss of speech understanding.
What this means for us, is that if a hearing loss is diagnosed treated early, (usually with hearing aids), there is no loss of speech understanding. This is huge.
So many people think that they can get along with a mild hearing loss. This isn’t true. The brain is not getting the information it needs to function normally. If we compare vision to hearing, no one would walk around with blurry vision and wait for it to get worse.
We all know someone who wears hearing aids and still struggles to understand speech. This could be avoided through early detection and treatment. I don’t know anyone who wants to spend their “golden years” not being able to follow conversation. Periodic hearing screenings after age 50 are so important for better quality of life. Do your brain a favor and get your hearing checked.
Call us at 727-323-2471.
Susan E. Terry, Au.D., F-AAA
Doctor of Audiology
Board Certified
P.S. We are here to help, if you have any questions about your hearing feel free to give us a call at 727-323-2471.