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A traumatic brain injury may cause permanent hearing loss

On Behalf of | Sep 11, 2020 | Brain Injuries

If you hit your head or decelerated quickly during a car accident, it is vitally important to seek a medical examination as soon as possible. During the examination, your doctor should check for the presence of a traumatic brain injury.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that there are about three million TBIs every year. Of these, more than a million lead to long-term complications. Hearing loss is one such complication.

Damage to the outer, middle or inner ear

If your TBI stems from a blow to your head, there is some chance you have also sustained an injury to your outer, middle or inner ear. All parts of your ear are necessary to capture sound waves and transport them to your brain. Accordingly, if you have ear damage, you can expect your doctor to test your hearing ability.

Damage to certain parts of your brain

TBI is the generic term for many brain injuries, so it is possible to have a TBI without having any hearing-related complications. Nonetheless, if your TBI affects the part of your brain that controls hearing, the auditory cortex, you may experience hearing loss. This is true even if your ear has not sustained an injury.

If you have damage to certain parts of your brain or to your ear, you may permanently lose your ability to hear. Whether a treatment option exists likely depends on the cause of your hearing loss. Therefore, following a car accident that causes you to lose your hearing, it is critical to determine if the problem is from an ear injury or a TBI.

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