Your ears aren't degrading and they're not full of wax -- if you don't hear as well as you used to, you might just need a boost.

And I don't mean turning up the dial on your hearing aid.

A new study finds that older people with poor hearing are missing out on two of the key vitamins I've been urging you to take anyway: B12 and folate.

In a study of 126 seniors, the researchers tested hearing and took blood samples, and found that those with hearing loss had folate levels between 32 percent and 35 percent lower than patients with no hearing problems.

They wrote in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery that those with hearing loss were also more likely to suffer from low B12 levels.

If this holds up, you might be able to prevent, halt or even reverse hearing loss with a couple of common vitamins.

Notice I said "might" -- if you're a kid with an iPod plugged directly into your skull, no supplement in the world is going to save your hearing. But since you're already used to having something in your ear 24/7, at least the inevitable hearing aid will feel perfectly natural.

For everyone else, don't stop at B12 and folate -- add B6 to the mix and you'll save your brain as well as your hearing.

I've been recommending these three Bs for years, and now even Big Pharma agrees with me -- because they're gearing up to sell a patented blend of B vitamins as the next big brain-saving "wonder drug."

I spilled the beans on their no-longer-secret formula a few months back, and you can read all about it for free right here.

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