Even though you probably do not spend much time thinking about your ability to hear, hearing plays a crucial part in virtually everything you do. While you may expect to experience some hearing loss as you age, a serious car accident may cause permanent hearing loss much earlier in your life.
After a motor vehicle accident, you should treat any changes to your hearing as a medical emergency. While some changes may be both minor and temporary, others may indicate a potentially catastrophic injury.
Damage to your ears
Each of your ears has three distinct parts: the outer, middle and inner ear. During a car accident, you may suffer trauma to the outer part of your ear. This type of trauma, such as amputation of your ear, may interfere with your physical ability to capture sound waves.
If you have damage to your middle ear, you may not be able to transfer sound waves to your brain for processing. The same is likely to be true for injuries to your inner ear. According to the Cleveland Clinic, middle- and inner-ear injuries often come from trauma, loud noises and even rapid head movements. Each of these is common in serious car accidents.
Damage to your brain
It is possible to lose your hearing without suffering an injury to any part of your ears. If you sustain a traumatic brain injury that affects the part of your brain that deals with sound, you may experience tinnitus, noise distortions, sound muffling or even a total loss of hearing.
Even though doctors often have a variety of options for treating accident-associated hearing loss, you may never hear the same again after a car wreck. Ultimately, by pursuing financial compensation for your injuries, you may have the means either to treat your injury or to cope with a new way of life.
