Have you resisted the calls from family, friends, and co-workers to finally invest in a hearing aid? Are you feeling like your hearing loss isn’t that bad at the moment and purchasing a hearing aid isn’t worth it?
If your hearing continues to worsen, it could cost you up to $30,000 each year, even if you think that it’s fine for now. Not only could you end up injuring yourself by neglecting your hearing loss, you could also cost yourself income and lost opportunities by missing important medical or work information.
Lost opportunities and unemployment
If you do not hear everything you need to, it will ultimately impact your performance at work. Your inability to hear coworkers could cause a breakdown in relationships and you could lose opportunities for upcoming projects because you couldn’t follow instructions on previous projects. If you become socially isolated at work, you could end up overlooked by people at every level of the company. These ”little” things add up over time and impact your ability to attain your highest earning potential. People who are treating their hearing loss earn, on average, $20,000 more than people with neglected hearing loss according to research carried out by the Better Hearing Institute.
Research also suggests that people with untreated hearing loss have an increased danger of being unemployed. Individuals who don’t treat their hearing loss will be 15% more likely to be unemployed. Not getting treatment, consequently, might cost you a lot of money as time goes by.
Added medical bills from falls
Neglected hearing loss can cause another financial hit by actually making you more likely to fall. One study discovered that even people with mild untreated hearing loss raise their danger of falling by 300%. In addition, there is a 1.4-fold increase in falls for every additional 10 dB of hearing loss. The vestibular system manages balance and researchers believe there might be a link between the level of hearing loss and how it affects that system. Or, it might also be possible that someone with neglected hearing loss simply gets disoriented in their environment because they are overcompensating with their other senses. And of course, those falls lead to more medical bills, and consequently more money out of your pocket.
Increased general health issues
But that’s not all. You may be missing some of the guidance from your doctor if you have neglected hearing loss. If you miss information from your doctor, you may wind up having worse outcomes in health matters, thus resulting in more bills and more issues. A huge financial gap will be the result. Over time, considerably higher medical costs will result from untreated hearing loss according to several studies. One study said the average increase was more than $20,000 over a ten year period and that these individuals were 40% more likely to end up in the emergency room. The University of South Carolina released a study that revealed a 33% increase in healthcare costs for people with untreated hearing loss over an 18 month time period.
Another study from Johns Hopkins University indicated that individuals with neglected moderate to profound hearing loss had a considerably higher risk of death.
So it’s time for a hearing test if you want to protect yourself financially and physically. You might need hearing aids depending on the results of that test. If you do, you’ll probably be fairly surprised. Hearing aids nowadays are state-of-the-art, really comfortable to wear, and sound clear. Take advantage of the available technology to make your life better in all aspects.
References
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2018/patients-with-untreated-hearing-loss-incur-higher-health-care-costs-over-time
https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/articles/year-2022/july-hearing-loss-and-falls