It’s like the older you get, the more health issues that come, right? Well, yeah, that’s a given, the older you get, the more needs you have, be it companionship, health-related care, mental support, you just need more in general. But even so, more health issues also seem to be more things that get ignored. Well, the mild things tend to get ignored at least. But yeah, a lot of seniors will ignore every tiny health issue on the planet because it “doesn’t seem serious,” even though those tiny things are exactly the ones that creep in and start messing with daily life.
And it’s wild because people expect aging to show up like a big dramatic announcement, but nope, it’s the tiny, almost throwaway symptoms that end up having the biggest impact. It’s like when it comes to aging, well, physically speaking, it’s just gradual, and it’s fairly slow too. But when there are small issues, they’re treated as small, but they can get worse.
But what exactly?
Some Symptoms People Brush Off Way too Easily
So yeah, the stuff you’d think people would mention to their doctor? Well, they don’t. They’ll just try to live around it instead. Are you guilty of this? For example, if you have dry eyes fairly often, do you brush it off or would you think to tell your doctor? Well, for some, they’ll just read less. But another example would be mild dizziness, so now they’re avoiding long walks. Oh, or maybe the knees that ache, so they pick the closest chair instead of venturing out. While these tiny problems never need anyone to go to an emergency room for help, they’ll instead just gradually get worse.
Hearing is One of the Biggest Subtle Health Issues
Well, sure, hearing is the big one that people pretend isn’t happening. And it usually starts so small. Just a “hm?” here and there, or leaning forward at the dinner table. Sure, everyone has done that at one point in time, right? And yeah, when it comes to hearing, well, age-related hearing specifically, it feels like people are talking a lot softer than ever before, or it’s all muffled. Maybe after being social, they’re tired from all the concentration of heaving to hear and decipher.
Yeah, that’s more serious than you might think. The older you get, the higher the chances you have just accepted the hearing loss struggle, and then you decline being social, and yes, this can get to the point you’re depressed from loneliness, and cognitive decline can happen too.
While yes, there is age-related hearing loss, that’s totally normal (and somewhat preventable to a degree or at least treatable), there are other hearing loss-related causes too, like clogged ears, then you need ear wax removal treatment (which is totally fine and normal, of course). But hearing loss, for the most part, is super subtle, but it’s so easy and fast to treat, too.
Tiny Problems Can Mean Lifestyle Changes
This is the whole point here, because small problems can snowball into much bigger issues. But the average person, well, especially a senior, isn’t intentionally ignoring symptoms because they’re stubborn or careless. It’s usually because the symptoms are tiny, or subtle, or feel silly to bring up. A lot of seniors already feel guilty for “bothering” their doctor with issues (and that’s because they aren’t bothering their doctors at all). But they adapt, and it gets to the point where the small issues will get worse, and other issues happen too.
Feature image by Vitaly Gariev on unsplash.com.
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