Seeking Compensation For Head Injury-Related Hearing Loss

All accidents are tough to recover from, both psychologically and physically. Take a simple car crash as an example. Although your injuries may not be debilitating, they’re still stressful, and you also have to deal with additional factors such as property damage and loss of income. 

However, an accident that ends in brain injury is a different world altogether and can result in all sorts of complications, like hearing damage from head injuries. At this point, you’re probably wondering - can a head injury cause hearing loss?

Today, we’ll set the records straight and offer all the information you need to know about hearing loss after an accident and how filing a personal injury claim can help you recover compensation.

Can a head injury cause hearing loss?

Sadly, yes.

Trauma to the parietal or temporal lobes of the brain or even damage to the inner ear mechanism can cause hearing loss. In fact, traumatic brain injuries often involve some sort of hearing impairment, be it sudden-onset tinnitus or complete hearing loss.

The good news is that the damage may not be permanent. With proper treatment, many cases will resolve on their own in a few months after auditory processing regions uncover. If the inner ear takes the brunt of the trauma, the damage can be repaired with surgery.

If the head injury that led to the loss of hearing was caused by someone else's negligence, then the victim has grounds to file a personal injury claim to recover compensation for medical expenses, as well as pain and suffering.

Types of hearing loss 

Now that we have answered the question of “can a head injury cause hearing loss”, it’s time to move on to different types of hearing problems that can occur due to trauma to the head. It’s important to stress that regardless of whether the hearing loss is permanent, according to personal injury law, it is a legitimate disability and can be compensated as such.

The most common types of hearing loss include:

 1. Conductive hearing loss

When the ossicle bones located in the inner ear are dislocated or damaged, the sound won’t be able to transfer from the ear to the brain. This injury is typically not permanent but does require surgery. If the damage to the ossicle bones isn’t extensive, the rate of complete hearing recovery is about 50%.

  2. Labyrinthine concussion

This type of concussion occurs when an excessive amount of force is applied to the inner ear and the sudden impact damages the cochlea. Although it may take three to nine months, the hearing loss will at least partially regress.

 3. Sensorineural hearing loss

Cilia are hair-like cells within the ears that help transfer vibrations to the auditory nerves so if any harm comes to them, they can cause hearing loss. 

Thankfully, this injury rarely ends in complete hearing loss. Rather, it affects the clarity of sound and it’s not uncommon for victims to become significantly more sensitive to aural stimuli. With proper treatment, sensorineural hearing loss usually subsides within a few weeks.

 4. Meniere’s syndrome

This syndrome can occur if head trauma triggers excessive pressure on the inner chamber, causing the ear fluid to shift and drastically affecting both balance and hearing. Unfortunately, this condition is permanent and requires medication to control the symptoms.

 5. Central hearing loss

If the trauma affects the parts of the brain that are in charge of processing sound, it can cause central hearing loss. While medical professionals know what causes this injury, there is still no cure and the damage is permanent.

What to do after a head injury

Head injuries are serious for the most part, meaning you should also take them as such. Sometimes it takes time for symptoms of hearing loss to manifest, so the moment you notice sudden or gradual changes in your hearing ability, we recommend going to an audiologist.

This physician will perform an examination of your ears and skull to detect any injuries. They may also conduct numerous tests, including an audiometer testing, a tuning fork test, and a whisper test. 

If you also have a brain injury, your physician will order a CT scan or an MRI to rule out issues like brain bleeding. Because these methods of testing can’t quite detect concussions, you’ll most likely also be examined by a neurologist. 

Once your physicians properly diagnose the type of hearing loss, they may order a variety of treatments.

Rehabilitation through various training programs, for instance, is effective in treating neurological hearing issues as it teaches the brain how to process sound. Injuries like torn eardrums generally require surgery and are resolved fairly quickly. 

Physicians may also prescribe you hearing aids. If that doesn’t work, it’s also possible to implement cochlear implants which bypass the inner ear and are connected directly to the auditory nerve.

Filing a personal injury for hearing loss

If the negligence of a third party led to your accident, they are legally liable for your hearing loss. Nevertheless, filing a personal injury case for hearing loss can often be complicated, which is why involving a personal injury attorney is a must, even more so for older individuals.

The defendant or the insurer may claim your hearing was already in decline before the injury happened. This can be even more tricky if you suffered a later onset of symptoms and the evidence seems speculative.

The good thing is, your attorney will most likely retain an expert (good ones always do) who will bring their expertise to the table and be able to successfully prove your hearing loss (no matter how small or how late it occurred) happened as a direct result of your injury. 

What now?

Now that you’re familiar with how exactly can a head injury cause hearing loss, you need to start thinking about recovering damages. The best way to achieve a resolution in your favor is to hire a knowledgeable personal injury attorney from the get-go.

They can not only help prove the other party was liable, but can also negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company. If all else fails, they can take it all the way to trial to recover the compensation you deserve.

Here at Law Offices of RITE, our attorneys have decades of experience handling different personal injury cases and will fight ardently to secure compensation for all medical bills and other expenses of your hearing loss injury.

Call (904) 500-RITE (7483) or send a message to info@rite4justice.com to schedule a consultation where we’ll review your case free of charge.

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.