Listen Up! How Better Hearing Equals Better Health

If you have hearing loss you know how frustrating it can be. But did you know hearing better can lead to feeling better? More than just an inconvenience, hearing loss can affect your mental and physical well-being. Millennium Physician Group Ear Nose and Throat Specialist Matthew Connor, M.D., says you don’t have to suffer in silence.

“An ear nose and throat doctor works very closely with an audiologist in order to properly treat your hearing loss,” he explains. “Whether that be with a hearing aid or medical treatment or even a surgery. It’s very important to have an ear nose and throat examination prior to purchasing a hearing aid.”

If you’re someone who’s resisted hearing aids in the past, you might be surprised to learn hearing aid technology has advanced dramatically over the past decade. “They even have the ability to connect to your Smartphone or your television so that you can watch TV or listen to podcasts or be on the phone and be able to hear and communicate effectively,” says Dr. Connor.

More than just sounding better, research has shown hearing aids can help you feel better by actually improving your quality of life and decreasing fatigue. “Additionally and very importantly, recent research has shown that hearing aids have actually been protective of cognitive decline,” reveals Dr. Connor. “And that there’s a lower incidence of dementia among hearing aid users.”

The benefits of hearing aids reach beyond just the person wearing them, the people around them, their loved ones, reap the rewards as well. “Often, people don’t realize what they’re missing out on,” says Dr. Connor. “I have many patients tell me once they eventually get a hearing aid that works for them they wish they’d have gotten one years ago.”

And that’s perhaps the sweetest sound of all.