Stress Can Affect Your Hearing

By Lina Marie Barreneche

Monarch Hearing and Balance Center

More Hearing Health Articles

Stress Can Affect Your Hearing

According to the American Institute of Stress, the number one health problem in the United States is stress. This attributes to the increased activity of modern living and other factors.

The incidence of increased stress is reportedly higher in people with a hearing loss than the normal-hearing population. In addition, patients with an untreated hearing loss are reported to have higher levels of stress than those with a treated hearing loss.

The increased levels of stress in people with hearing loss are likely related to the increased incidence of communication failures experienced by them. This obviously highlights the importance of hearing amplification and the quality of life improvement reported by patients who have used hearing aids.

Amplification through hearing aids narrows the discrepancy in stress levels experienced by hearing impaired individuals.

Research and studies show that listening to music is not only for entertainment but also has its therapeutic benefits. It has been proven to lower the levels of stress in patients with normal hearing as well as hearing-impaired people.

Unfortunately, some hearing-impaired patients claim not to be able to enjoy their favorite concerts or that they just can't play their favorite instrument anymore due to their hearing loss; this health factor might create a very stressful quality of life for the patient. Absence of normal sounds, to which most human beings are exposed to during their daily life and that are not perceived in a normal manner by hearing-impaired patients, can make the difference shown between the psychological stressful behavior of normalhearing persons versus hearing-impaired individuals.

As hearing professionals, we always convey the importance of the design of digital signal processing hearing aids to our patients, so music as well as speech, can be conveniently enjoyed by hearing aid wearers.

Changes in a person's mood and emotions, have been linked to physiological changes in a hearingimpaired person making this a factor for the hard of hearing to withdraw from their surrounding and their social activities.

In conclusion, the impact and effect of hearing aids on lowering the levels of stress in the hearing-impaired population, can only be measured by the patient and their closest relatives.