What Untreated Hearing Loss Costs You

Hearing loss costs a lot more than just your hearing. Every single day, patients walk into our practice not realizing how much they’ve lost financially, physically, and emotionally due to ignored hearing healthcare.

To help patients better understand what untreated hearing loss costs them, we put together this guide that explains how hearing loss impacts every single aspect of your life.

If you’ve ignored your hearing health, or want a check up, schedule a free comprehensive hearing exam with Hearing Health Center today.

How Common is Hearing Loss?

Hearing loss is remarkably common amongst adults. Approximately 15% of adults aged 18 and over in the United States report some hearing difficulty. That’s a little over 37 million people.

Age is the strongest predictor of hearing loss, with the highest percentage occurring between the ages of 60 and 69. Another key factor in hearing loss is exposure to loud workplace noise. 18% of adults have hearing loss at speech frequencies in both ears if they report loud workplace noise, while only 5% have hearing loss if they don’t.

Tinnitus is a concern as well. Around 10% of the adult population in the United States has experienced tinnitus, rising to 14% when worldwide totals are included.

One of the trickiest parts of dealing with hearing loss is that it’s often gradual. That means over time, you slowly lose your hearing until one day, poof, you recognize you can’t hear as well as you once did. Subconsciously, your brain might do more lip-reading, or strain so you don’t have as much of an idea how much you’re being affected until it’s too late.

Some physicians do not routinely perform hearing exams during physicals, which means gradual hearing loss could be occurring without you even realizing it.

The best and most effective way to gain a better understanding of your hearing health is to schedule an exam with a trained audiologist. At Hearing Health Center, our team performs a comprehensive hearing exam that gives you a clearer picture of your hearing health and the steps you can take to prevent hearing loss and reduce long-term costs.

The Monetary Costs of Hearing Loss

The 83% of people on Earth suffering from untreated hearing loss account for costs of nearly $980 billion per year. That total is around 6 % of GDP per capita.

According to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “older adults with untreated hearing loss generated an average of 46 percent more in total health care costs over 10 years versus those who don’t have hearing loss.” In dollars, that’s a little over $22,000 over 10 years.

Broken down further, people with hearing loss incurred nearly 26 percent more total health care costs over two years than those treated.

But what is most costly is the hospital stay data. After 10 years, patients with untreated hearing loss were hospitalized 50% more often; 44% of those people were at higher risk of hospital readmission within 30 days, and had about 52 more outpatient visits than those without hearing loss.

Another study calculated the extent to which untreated hearing loss affected household income. They found that people with the highest level of hearing loss earned $12,000 less per year than those with minimal to no hearing loss.

Simply put, the data shows that untreated hearing loss means you’ll earn less and spend more on healthcare costs in the future.

Don’t let untreated hearing loss cost you your hard-earned money; schedule your hearing exam today.

The Health Costs of Hearing Loss

The most obvious cost of hearing loss is, of course, the inability to hear. But what most patients do not realize is that their hearing health affects the entire body, including brain function, balance, and overall well-being.

When someone loses their hearing, they become much more at risk of dementia. A 2020 report lists hearing loss as one of the significant contributors to dementia, as hearing loss requires your brain to work extra hard to understand and fill in missing gaps.

The more your brain works on these tasks, the more energy is taken away from thinking memory systems. Another possibility is that hearing loss causes an aging brain to shrink faster, thus leading to dementia.

As of today, hearing loss is attributed to around 8% of all new dementia cases, or around 800,000 every year.

Another danger of hearing loss is its effect on someone’s balance. The vestibular system in your ear helps detect the head’s positioning and the space around you. Hearing loss can negatively affect these neurons and sensors, thereby increasing the risk of falling.

There are two additional factors to consider.

The first is that auditory input is lowered with hearing loss, which then affects the brain’s ability to understand spatial information. Without being able to comprehend the area around you fully, you end up more likely to slip or fall.

Another aspect to consider is that, because your brain is working harder to understand sounds, it leaves less space to understand your surroundings. Your brain is focusing too much on one thing, leaving you more likely to ignore the space around you.

Your hearing health is more than just that: proactive action to protect yourself can help prevent serious, long-term issues.

The Social and Emotional Costs of Hearing Loss

Loss of hearing comes at a price for your mental health as well. Nearly 33% of adults 70 or older suffer from hearing loss that impacts their daily communication, which, as a result, leads to further isolation.

This isolation then leads to depression and an overall decrease in your well-being.

People who are hard of hearing become embarrassed by constantly asking others to repeat themselves, or frustrated when talking with family members, when they can’t understand them. Studies have shown that once these incidents occur frequently, people isolate themselves, leading to less-happy lives and even shorter lifespans.

There’s also the lesser-known effect of hearing loss: missing nuance in meetings and how that impacts work promotions.

Between isolation and the negative emotional impacts, it’s an easy solution to start focusing on your hearing health as soon as possible.

How Can Early Treatment of Hearing Loss Help You?

Early interventions for hearing loss limit many of the short- and long-term negative health and financial effects that cost people thousands of dollars each year.

Financially, you are not only more likely to make money with early hearing loss interventions, but you’re also less likely to spend money on hospital visits due to injuries sustained as a result.

There’s also the financial savings that come with being less likely to fall and injure yourself, and lowering the risk of dementia or other brain-related diseases.

Hearing aids are statistically more likely to lessen the likelihood of social isolation, thus reducing the chances of dementia. While treatment has not been proven to to prevent dementia, early research is promising.

Early interventions and treatment give people back the life they deserve, so don’t wait any longer and get your hearing checked today.

Need a Hearing Test? Contact Hearing Health Center Today!

Struggling with your hearing lately? Want to get checked early before something goes wrong?

Call Hearing Health Center today and schedule a free comprehensive hearing exam to get you started on your hearing health journey.

Don’t let hearing loss cost you your life, schedule your appointment today.