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Motor vehicle accidents may cause hearing loss

Motor vehicle accidents can cause catastrophic injuries that may change your life. One of the consequences of an accident that can interfere with your ability to continue life as normal in your personal and professional life is hearing loss.

Your ears have three major areas, the outer, middle and inner ear. Any damage to your inner ear has a higher likelihood of causing hearing loss.

How hearing loss occurs in an accident

The force of a collision can cause catastrophic injuries to the body. Your head can strike the door, window, ceiling or windshield, even with airbag use. Traumatic brain injuries and skull fractures can also damage your ear canal. Likewise, the small bones in your ears can break during an accident.

In addition to the sheer force of the accident, the sound of the accident can cause hearing loss. Car accidents sound explosive and the noise can lead to discomfort, ringing in your ears and vertigo. Additionally, the sound of the airbag can result in hearing loss.

How to identify signs of hearing loss

Sometimes you may not recognize signs of hearing loss right away. You may also assume any hearing loss from the accident will be temporary. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and there are symptoms to watch out for. If you have trouble understanding words, particularly when there is a lot of background noise, you may have hearing loss. Likewise, speech sounding muffled and consistently having to ask people to speak louder could indicate a loss of hearing.

If you find yourself avoiding social situations because you have difficulty understanding others, you could have serious hearing loss.