Welcome back to The Code of Style, and this feature about Are You Losing Your Senses?
It’s normal for our five senses to become duller as we get older. This can sometimes be a natural side effect of ageing, however bad habits like not protecting our ears, smoking heavily or handling hot objects without gloves can sometimes be a contributing cause.
Injuries and illnesses can also cause more sudden loss of our senses. If you’ve noticed that one of your senses is no longer as sharp as it used to be, here are a few possible explanations and what you may be able to do to seek treatment.
Are You Losing Your Senses?
Vision
Pretty much everyone loses their short-distance vision over time, while a reduction in long distance vision is also common. An eye test can determine if you are experiencing any vision loss, and whether you need to start wearing glasses or contact lenses. Laser treatment can also be a solution in some cases.
Other conditions like cataracts and diabetes can affect our eyesight and can be more serious. Overall blurriness, dark spots, halo lights and seeing double are all signs that you should see a doctor.
Temporary loss of vision is rare, but can be caused by migraines. Untreated clots may also be a more serious cause.
Hearing
Hearing is another sense that starts to fade as we get older. This is usually natural, however exposure to loud noise can cause hearing loss to occur sooner or become more severe. A hearing exam can determine whether you are experiencing hearing loss. You may then be able to restore some of your hearing by getting a hearing aid fitted.
Injuries and infections can also affect our ears. If you are experiencing an earache and hearing loss, it can often be worth seeing a doctor to diagnose it. Antibiotics may be needed to get rid of an ear infection.
Aside from an infection, temporary hearing loss may also be caused by an earwax blockage. This can usually be cleared up by using eardrops or looking into professional earwax removal.
Taste
A lot of people experience a loss of taste as they get older. It is particularly common in smokers.
You usually cannot get back your sense of taste, unless it is caused by a temporary condition such as sinusitis or Covid. If a Covid test has come up all clear, you may want to consider seeing a doctor – especially if you are experiencing persistent cold-like symptoms and facial pain.
Smell
Our sense of smell and taste are intertwined. Loss of taste may in fact be loss of smell in some cases. Smoking is again another big cause.
Conditions like Covid and sinusitis may cause temporary loss of smell. Treating these conditions could help to restore your ability to smell again.
Touch
Years of handling hot foods and cooking equipment can result in some of us developing ‘asbestos hands’ in which nerves are killed off. Other injuries may also cause nerve damage. There is no treatment for this, but such conditions may not always be serious.
More serious conditions like multiple sclerosis and stroke can also affect our sense of feeling around the body, while also causing paralysis. Random numbing/tingling and loss of balance could be an early sign of MS, whereas numbing/tingling and headaches can be warning signs that a stroke is around the corner.
There are many causes of temporary numbing ranging from medical anaesthesia to pins and needles (paresthesia). If your touch comes and goes in certain areas and you’re also getting tingling or pain, it could be worth seeing a doctor. Conditions ranging from RSIs to diabetes could be a cause.
In Conclusion
We hope you found this article about “Are You Losing Your Senses?” helpful and that it gave you some ideas on how you can best make time to take care of your health, both now and in the future, and you can have a look here for more of our health and wellness features.
I’m Julia, the Senior Managing Editor and I can’t wait to share some more articles with you again soon! In the meantime you can find more style, lifestyle and travel inspiration on “The Velvet Runway” .
Thank you for reading
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