With love, support, and understanding by your side, you and your loved one can get the hearing loss treated and restore that all-important connection that brought you together in the first place. What’s not love about that?
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Hearing screenings typically absent from routine doctor exams
This post originally appeared on Starkey.com
Today’s fact headlining the lack of hearing screenings at routine doctor exams may surprise you—or not.
If you’re surprised: It’s probably because you’ve been keeping up with the mounting research that strongly links hearing loss with dementia, cognitive decline, depression, loneliness, and falls.
If you’re not surprised: You may be familiar with the current state of shorter appointments in the U.S. and let’s face it—it’s not uncommon for physicians to prioritize other tests, labs, and questions before hearing. You’ve likely “been there,” and realize if you had any hearing loss concerns, it would be your role to mention them to the physician.
Regular hearing screenings are essential to your health
While the reasoning behind the lack of hearing screenings at routine exams isn’t clear-cut, we can take today’s fact as a reminder of how important it is to prioritize our hearing health. Regular hearing exams not only are the first step in helping to prevent the long-term detriments of hearing loss, such as dementia, but also play an immediate role in the early intervention of age-related hearing loss—which is gradual and often difficult to detect. As a result, people may not even realize they have hearing loss until it is further along and more challenging to treat.
On a positive note, the case integrating hearing screenings into regular health exams appears to be gaining some momentum: The esteemed National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, for example, recently recommended routine doctor hearing screenings in a published report titled Hearing Health Care for Adults: Priorities for Improving Access and Affordability.
But while progress continues to grow, taking care of our hearing is up to us.
Fortunately, there are two things you can do:
Option 1: Tell your physician about hearing concerns
If you think you may have hearing loss, or even if you’re unsure, tell your physician. They can refer you to a licensed hearing care professional in the same way they might refer you to a dermatologist for skin issues. A hearing specialist will have the equipment and expertise to evaluate your hearing and counsel you through treatment options for any hearing issues you may be experiencing.
Option 2: Visit a hearing care professional yourself
As it stands, experts recommend having your hearing screened every three years once you’re 50. So, you can feel empowered to make it a part of annual health checks. Hearing evaluations are simple and pain-free, and can easily be set up with a hearing care professional near you.
For a head start, simply type your zip code in here to generate a list of local providers. They will be happy to show you how your hearing is doing, and as mentioned, discuss treatment if needed.
If you’re interested in a hearing test, visit your closest South Suburban Hearing Health Center to learn more about your hearing health.
The high cost of untreated hearing loss
Did you know that untreated hearing loss can result in higher healthcare costs over time? There are now many studies that prove it “pays” to have hearing loss treated — not only from a physical standpoint, but from a financial standpoint too!
Hearing loss has become a hot topic in the field of science and healthcare. There are well-established relationships between hearing loss and other health issues: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, falls and dementia to name a few. Now there is a proven relationship between untreated hearing loss and higher healthcare costs.
According to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “older adults with untreated hearing loss have substantially higher total health care costs compared to those who don't have hearing loss — an average of 46 percent, totaling $22,434 per person over a decade.”
Another study, done by the University of South Carolina, found that those with diagnosed hearing loss had 33 percent higher health care costs than those without hearing loss.
Why untreated hearing loss can lead to higher healthcare costs
Researchers believe that there could be several reasons for these higher healthcare costs. The main reason is that, because those with hearing loss have trouble communicating, they are waiting longer to seek medical treatment. The longer a person waits to seek medical treatment, the more difficult it is to treat an illness.
Another reason might be that the hearing impaired person didn’t hear or interpret the treatment instructions correctly. This could delay the healing process and incur even more healthcare costs.
These studies highlight just one of the reasons it is important to treat hearing loss in a timely manner. Don’t let your fear of the unknown keep you from seeking help for suspected hearing loss. As you can see, the stakes are much higher than you might have realized.
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