Why You Could Be Missing Out On The Joys Of Spring Not Wearing Your Hearing Aid
Every year with the blossom of daffodils, snow drops and a variety of other wild flowers, spring emerges from what can be a dreary winter. It is suggested that a ¾ of people in the UK feel more connected to nature in spring, bringing back happy memories of child hood. A lot of research also shows that natural sounds are therapeutic. In a modern society of man made stuctures and fast living. Taking yourself back to nature where things take time to grow and blossom can have a very relaxing effect.
Hearing loss reduces your ability to hear particular frequencies. Depending on lifestyle, age and generic factors your hearing loss may be a mixture of low and mid frequency loss as well as being mild to profound in severity. It can happen at such a slow rate you may not realise exactly what you are missing until someone can hear something that you cannot or you start wearing a hearing aid.
There have even been studies on the subject about natural sounds and our health.
The results affirm that natural sounds improve health, increase positive affect, and lower stress and annoyance.
Taken from this study https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2013097118
We look at the top sounds you could be missing this spring:
Bird Song
As wintertime turns into spring, the lengthening daylight turns male song birds into breeding mode. Robins and great tits are the first of the season to appear. There are a variety of different melodies and calls made by birds, some birds such as the sedge warbler never produce the same tune again. With the saying the “early bird catches the worm” birds try to get in there early in the morning hence why in the morning you may hear what is called the dawn chorus of different sounding bird songs. Without a hearing aid if you have a hearing loss you will find it difficult to differentiate between birds and even not hearing some birds at all.
Trickling Natural Water
As we venture fully out of the winter and into mid spring, running streams that may have been frozen over start moving again. What is lovely termed "April showers" bring bigger flowing rivers and waterfalls and in small shallow stagnent water, frogs are of to breed and tadpoles turn slowly to frogs, a good ear near the water may hear the occasional jumping in and out.
The Noises of Bumble Bees and Insects
Bees produce a wide variety of low frequencies sounds from 10Hz to over 1000hz using their wings, a little bee can produce 30dB and if agitated even louder. Hearing a bee on its mission of pollination has to be the biggest indicators of spring.
Farm Noises
Down on the farm, spring means the appearance of new life especially cheeky little chicks with their high pitched chirping and the bleating (baa-ing) of lambs you may hear while walking along footpaths in the countryside.
If you are a nature lover with a hearing loss, spring is as good a time as any to give wearing your hearing aid a better go!