Why is hearing health important?

How maintaining your hearing, maintains your health

Did you know you hear with your brain? Yes! Your brain. Our ears gather sound, but it’s understood in the brain. Your brain plays an important part in your hearing. And like any other muscle, it needs exercise. How can you keep your hearing fit? HearingFitness^TM in the Oticon ON app has been designed to do exactly that.

Why is hearing health important?

Just like the muscles in your legs, your brain needs a workout to keep it functioning in tip top shape and help keep deterioration at bay. You can exercise your brain in a myriad of ways, including brain teasers, solving crosswords and learning a new language.

Your brain gets a workout whenever you interact with others, and your hearing helps you listen, chat, laugh and more. Sound stimulates your brain, while conversations and social events keep your faculties sharp.

The battle against dementia

Dementia is a loss of brain function that can be caused by a variety of disorders affecting the brain. Untreated hearing loss can lead to an increased risk of dementia². Why? Because hearing loss can:

1. Contribute to a withdrawal from social activities and lead to isolation. Socializing is vital to your brain’s health³.
    
2. Sap the energy required to create memories and think in trying to compensate for the information missing from sound caused by hearing loss⁴.
    
3. Accelerate brain atrophy and shrinkage⁵.