Have your friends, family, and co-workers been requesting that you invest in hearing aids but you’ve been stubbornly resisting? Are you feeling like your hearing loss is not that bad at the moment and purchasing a hearing aid isn’t worth it?
Even if you believe you’re doing just fine at the moment, your hearing loss could get a lot worse – and if that happens, it might possibly cost you upwards of $30,000 a year. Not only could you end up injuring yourself by dismissing your hearing loss, you could also cost yourself income and lost opportunities by not hearing important medical or work details.
Unemployment and missed opportunities
If you do not hear everything you need to, it will ultimately impact your work performance. You could get passed up for future projects because you couldn’t hear instructions on previous work, or your interaction with co-workers could have deteriorated due to your being unable to hear them. If you become socially secluded at work, you may be overlooked by people at all levels of the company. These “small” things compound over time and affect your ability to attain your highest earning potential. Research conducted by the Better Hearing Institute revealed that individuals with neglected hearing loss earned, on average, $20,000 less a year than people who treated their loss of hearing.
Research also indicates that people with neglected hearing loss have a higher risk of being unemployed. A neglected profound hearing loss translates into a 15 percent higher risk of being unemployed. So, as time passes, neglected hearing loss could wind up costing you lot’s of money.
Additional medical bills from falls
Neglected hearing loss can deal another financial blow by actually making you more likely to fall. The chance of falling is raised by 300% for people with even minor neglected hearing loss as detailed by one study. In addition, there is a 1.4-fold increase in falls for every additional 10 dB of hearing loss. The vestibular system handles balance and researchers think there may be a link between the degree of hearing loss and how it affects that system. Or, it may also be possible that somebody with neglected hearing loss just gets disoriented in their environment because they are overcompensating with their other senses. And when you fall it frequently results in a costly trip to the doctor.
Worse health consequences
But there’s more to it than just that. You may be missing some of the guidance from your doctor if you have untreated hearing loss. If you miss information from your doctor, you might end up having worse consequences in health matters, thus leading to more costs and more problems. All of these incidents add up to a huge financial gap. Numerous studies have linked neglected hearing loss to substantially increased medical costs over time. One study noted the average increase was more than $20,000 over a ten year period and that these individuals were 40% more likely to go to the emergency room. A more recent study from the University of South Carolina suggested that neglected hearing loss led to a 33% increase in healthcare costs over an 18 month period.
Another study from Johns Hopkins University indicated that individuals with untreated moderate to severe hearing loss had a significantly higher chance of death.
So it’s time for a hearing assessment 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 these days are state-of-the-art, very comfortable to wear, and sound clear. Make your total life better by taking advantage of this amazing technology.
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