September marks World Alzheimer’s Month, a global initiative to raise awareness and challenge the stigmas around the disease and how we can support a friend or a loved one who is living with dementia. It’s a conversation we can all be having to ensure that we take our own personal steps to healthy ageing.
An area we think is especially important, is our hearing.
When a loved one appears to be less engaged in social situations, mishearing or misremembering parts of a conversation, it is easy to worry about memory loss. These changes in communication, however, do not automatically mean that someone is experiencing dementia. In many cases, slow changes in hearing loss, a hearing aid that isn’t working optimally, or simply a build-up of ear wax, may be the underlying cause.
Research shows that there is a link between hearing loss and dementia, although we should stress that this is not cause and effect. However, when hearing becomes more difficult, the brain has to work a lot harder to process sounds and speech.
Just like we are encouraged to have regular check-ups with the dentist for our teeth, or a visit to the opticians for our eye health, we believe that hearing health should also be on the list of things that you do for your physical and mental wellbeing.
We recommend that hearing checks should take place roughly every two years. It can provide valuable insight into a person’s health and quality of life.
Our hearing assessments are free and comprehensive and will give you a good picture of where your hearing is at. If anything comes up that is a concern, we will refer you to your GP for further investigation. If we recommend that you need hearing aids, any that you decide to purchase with us will come with a generous aftercare package. This includes regular servicing appointments, adjustments to your hearing aids, ear wax removal, and further assessments should you notice a change in your hearing.
And this is a friendly reminder that if you're still using hearing aids supplied by us, these support services remain available to you whenever you need them!
Click here to find out more about our free hearing assessments.
Web design by Tribal Systems, built on Zenario