4 Ways Hearing Aids Reduce the Risk of Falls
Falls are the leading cause of injury for older adults, with 1 in 4 Americans over 65 experiencing one each year.1 Untreated hearing loss can increase this risk even further by silently affecting your stability and balance in ways you might not expect. Research shows that even mild degrees of hearing loss triple the risk of falls.2
Fortunately, modern hearing technology is purposefully designed to combat this. In fact, research shows that consistent hearing aid use can reduce the risk of falls by 50% for older adults with hearing loss.3
Below, we explore some of the incredible ways hearing aids reduce the risk of falls by supporting improved spatial awareness, cognitive functions, and balance.
1. Hearing Aids Help Improve Spatial Awareness
Hearing plays an important role in spatial awareness. It provides subtle cues about your environment that help the brain build a mental map of your surroundings.
Auditory information helps us understand where we are in relation to surrounding objects and people. This is critical for judging distances, reacting quickly, and safely navigating our environment.
When hearing declines, this awareness decreases. Important environmental cues like the sound of oncoming traffic, footsteps approaching from behind, or warning shouts can be missed, increasing the risk of accidents and falls.
Hearing aids help restore the sounds that help us stay oriented and alert, giving the brain the information it needs to understand the things happening around us. This heightened awareness can also allow for quicker, more controlled responses to warning signals and safety risks.
The Aris AI from Audibel is the first hearing aid to feature DNN 360 spatial awareness technology. This advanced system continuously scans your sound environment and automatically adjusts your settings in real time. This not only delivers uninterrupted speech clarity but also helps you stay aware of important environmental sounds as you move through daily life.
2. Hearing Aids Help Reduce Cognitive Load
When hearing loss goes untreated, the brain must work harder to fill in missing sounds and interpret speech. This extra mental effort is known as increased cognitive load.
The more energy the brain dedicates to understanding auditory information, the fewer mental resources remain for other cognitive tasks like memory and critical thinking. This increased cognitive load can also impact your ability to maintain balance and coordination, greatly increasing the risk offalls.
Hearing aids help reduce this extra mental effort by delivering better speech clarity and clearer auditory input overall. When the brain isn’t overcompensating for hearing loss, it can better manage other essential functions like balance.
This can greatly reduce the risk of falls by supporting better stability, coordination, and the ability to react effectively to unexpected hazards.
3. Hearing Aids Support Balance Function
Hearing and balance are more closely connected than many people realize. Our inner ear houses both our auditory system (hearing) and vestibular system (balance).
These systems sit side by side and share many of the same structures and nerve pathways. Changes in one system can affect the other, and that connection plays an important role in fall risk.
Common causes of hearing loss, such as inner ear damage due to aging, noise exposure, or certain health conditions, can also affect the vestibular system. When either system isn’t working optimally, it can cause dizziness, difficulty coordinating movements, and other balance issues, all of which greatly increase fall risk.
Wearing hearing aids consistently is one of the most effective ways to not only improve daily communication but also physical stability. Clearer sound helps reinforce spatial awareness and orientation, which are essential for maintaining equilibrium.
Some hearing aids, like the Aris AI, even offer built-in Balance Builder features. This exclusive in-app tool includes guided exercises and assessments designed to help you improve and monitor your balance at home.
4. Hearing Aids Can Encourage a More Active Lifestyle
Staying physically active is one of the most important ways to maintain strength, coordination, and balance as we age. Consistent movement supports healthier joints, stronger muscles, and better stability on your feet overall. However, research shows a strong link between hearing loss and a decrease in physical activity in older adults.4
When hearing loss makes communication harder and group activities or social gatherings more challenging, it’s common for people to scale back or avoid these situations. Over time, living a less active lifestyle can begin to impact muscle strength and stability, resulting in an increased fall risk.
Prescription hearing aids help enhance speech clarity and suppress background noise, making communication easier, even in busy or loud environments. With proper hearing support, conversations in busy restaurants, family gatherings, and social events can feel effortless again. This renewed engagement naturally supports a more active lifestyle.
Additionally, some of the most advanced hearing devices available today have built-in fall detection features. Audibel was the first to introduce hearing aids with fall detection and alert capabilities in 2019, and it’s now a standard feature in all their AI devices.
This technology can detect a fall and send an alert to a designated contact, providing an added layer of safety and greater confidence to stay active and independent.
Demo the Latest Hearing Aid Technology for FREE at Audibel Hearing Center in Hickory
Falling is a serious health and safety issue that puts anyone with untreated hearing loss at an increased risk. The good news is that there’s something you can do about it. Hearing aids can help decrease your risk of falls and increase your overall quality of life.
Hearing health is an investment in your safety and well-being. At Audibel Hearing Center, our team can help you find the best hearing loss solutions for your unique needs, budget, and lifestyle. Schedule an appointment and demo the latest hearing aid technology for free at Audibel Hearing Center in Hickory.
References
- Older adult falls data. (2024, October 28). Older Adult Fall Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/falls/data-research/index.html
- Lin, F. R., & Ferrucci, L. (2012b). Hearing loss and falls among older adults in the United States. Archives of Internal Medicine, 172(4), 369. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.728
- Campos, L., Prochazka, A., Anderson, M., Kaizer, A., Foster, C., & Hullar, T. (2023d). Consistent hearing aid use is associated with lower fall prevalence and risk in older adults with hearing loss. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 71(10), 3163–3171. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18461
- Kuo, P., Di, J., Ferrucci, L., & Lin, F. R. (2021). Analysis of hearing loss and physical activity among US adults aged 60-69 years. JAMA Network Open, 4(4), e215484. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.5484