As of late, Chris has been somewhat forgetful. For two months in a row, she missed her doctor’s appointment and needs to reschedule. And she even overlooked running the dishwasher before bed (I guess this morning she will have to handwash her coffee cup). Lately, she’s been letting things fall through the cracks. Chris has been feeling mentally fatigued and drained all the time but, strangely, she doesn’t feel forgetful.
It can be challenging to put your finger on that feeling until it’s sneaking up on you. Often, though, the issue isn’t your memory, despite how forgetful you might appear. Your hearing is the actual issue. And that means you can considerably improve your memory by using one small device.
How to Enhance Your Memory And General Cognitive Function
So, the first step you can take to improve your memory, to get everybody’s name right at your next meeting or to make sure you arrange that day off for your dentist appointment, is to get your hearing tested. A standard hearing examination will be able to find out if you have hearing loss and how severe any impairment may be.
Chris hasn’t noticed any symptoms of hearing loss yet so she hesitates to make an appointment. She doesn’t really have difficulty hearing in a noisy room. And she’s never had a difficult time hearing any of her team members at work.
But she might have some degree of hearing loss even though she hasn’t noticed any symptoms yet. As a matter of fact, memory loss is commonly one of the very first noticeable signs of hearing loss. And it all has to do with brain strain. It works like this:
- Slowly and virtually imperceptibly, your hearing begins to fade.
- Your ears notice a lack of sound, however mild.
- Your brain begins working a little bit harder to decipher and amplify the sounds you can hear.
- Everything seems to be normal, but it takes more effort from your brain to comprehend the sounds.
That type of continual strain can be a real drag on your brain’s finite resources. So things such as memory and cognitive function get pushed to the back.
Dementia And Hearing Loss
If you take memory loss to its most logical extremes, you might end up looking at something like dementia. And there is a connection between dementia and hearing loss, though what the precise cause-effect relationship is, remains rather uncertain. Still, there is an elevated danger of cognitive decline in those who have untreated hearing loss, starting with some mild memory issues and escalating to more extreme cognitive issues.
Keeping Fatigue in Check With Hearing Aids
That’s the reason why treating your hearing loss is indispensable. Significant increase in cognitive function was observed in 97.3% of people with hearing loss who wore hearing aids for at least 18 months according to one study.
Similar benefits have been noted in a variety of other studies. Hearing aids really help. Your overall cognitive function gets better when your brain doesn’t need to work as hard to hear. Sure, a hearing aid isn’t an absolute cure, cognitive decline or memory problems can be a complicated mixture of factors and variables.
The First Symptom of Hearing Loss is Often Memory Loss
This sort of memory loss is typically temporary, it’s a sign of exhaustion more than a fundamental change in how your brain functions. But if the underlying issues are not addressed, that can change.
So if you’re observing some memory loss, it can be an early sign of hearing loss. When you first begin to notice those symptoms, you should make an appointment with your hearing specialist. As soon as your underlying hearing problems are addressed, your memory should go back to normal.
As an added bonus, your hearing health will most likely improve, too. The decline in your hearing will be slowed substantially by using hearing aids. These little devices, in this way, will enhance your general health not only your hearing.