{"id":875,"date":"2021-01-08T15:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T20:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahgeorgia.fm1.dev\/?p=875"},"modified":"2021-02-22T18:19:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T23:19:18","slug":"what-is-auditory-deprivation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/what-is-auditory-deprivation\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Auditory Deprivation?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hearing loss is a progressive condition, meaning it develops slowly over time. Because of this, many people don\u2019t even realize they have hearing loss<\/a> until it\u2019s advanced to a stage that cannot be easily treated. This can have devastating impacts, including social withdrawal, feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression and even cognitive decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s another effect of untreated hearing loss many don\u2019t know about called auditory deprivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Auditory Deprivation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Auditory deprivation is the result of your brain being deprived of sound, which can lead to difficulty processing sounds even after you begin wearing hearing aids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When hearing loss is left untreated, the parts of the brain typically responsible for helping you hear become reassigned to other tasks, like visual processing, causing your brain to shrink and atrophy. This effect can happen to anybody, not just those with severe hearing impairment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use It or Lose It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a common phrase audiologists use when talking about auditory deprivation: \u201cUse it or lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of your hearing like the PTO you accrue at work. If you plan to take your family to the Georgia Aquarium<\/a> [SB1]<\/a> you need to do so sooner rather than later, or you risk your PTO expiring. And once it\u2019s gone, you don\u2019t get it back. But unlike PTO, you won\u2019t get a warning before you reach the point of no return for your brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenilee Pulido, Au.D., of HearCare Audiology Center in Sarasota, Fla., explains, \u201cThe longer you wait to seek treatment, the [more the] brain has trouble understanding and processing information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, while you still maybe to hear sounds just fine, especially with hearing aids, your brain will have a tough time making sense of those sounds unless you treat your loss promptly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Auditory Deprivation Reversible?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is unclear whether the effects of auditory deprivation can be reversed, though experts theorize it simply varies from person to person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Pulido asserts that the \u201cbrain is very [flexible] and it can make a lot of changes\u2014once it\u2019s being stimulated, new connections can form so that it can understand more information,\u201d which is promising for those with untreated hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small study published last year<\/a> found positive results: consistent hearing aid use may reverse negative changes in the brain as well as slow or stop brain shrinkage. For more information or to schedule an appointment<\/a>, call ENT of Georgia today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hearing loss is a progressive condition, meaning it develops slowly over time. Because of this, many people don\u2019t even realize they have hearing loss until it\u2019s advanced to a stage that cannot be easily treated. This can have devastating impacts, including social withdrawal, feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression and even cognitive decline. There\u2019s another effect…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":884,"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions\/884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedhearingga.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}