The sudden impact of a car crash can cause physical injuries that have life-altering changes. Hearing is one of your most vital senses, often overlooked in the aftermath of a car accident.
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If you notice ear injuries after a crash, seek medical attention immediately to begin your recovery. Once you have addressed your medical needs, it is highly recommended that you contact an attorney to pursue compensation for medical expenses and other damages.
At Roden Law, our Charleston car accident attorneys can help you determine your legal options. During a free consultation, one of our attorneys will discuss your legal options with you and address any questions you may have. If we proceed with your potential case, you will not have to pay any upfront costs. Our firm only receives pay if we win your case.
Call today to request a free consultation: 1-844-RESULTS.
How Car Accidents Cause Hearing Loss
Car accidents can damage your hearing in several ways that some accident victims do not initially consider. Discovering how victims may damage their hearing during a car crash could help you gain more knowledge on the type of injuries that you have and how they may become severe.
Loud Noises and Trauma
The explosive sound of a collision can exceed 140 decibels, which is louder than a jet engine at takeoff. This intense noise can immediately damage the delicate hair cells in your inner ear that transmit sound signals to your brain. Even exposure to these extreme sound levels can cause permanent hearing damage or tinnitus (persistent ringing in the ears).
Airbag Deployment
Modern vehicles’ lifesaving airbags deploy at speeds exceeding 200 mph, creating a shockwave and explosion that reaches 160 to 175 decibels. This sudden pressure change occurs inches from your ears, potentially causing:
- Rupture of the eardrum (tympanic membrane)
- Damage to the ossicles (tiny bones that transmit sound)
- Acoustic trauma to inner ear structures
Head Trauma and TBI
The violent forces in a collision often cause your head to strike objects or the interior of the vehicle. These impacts can result in:
- Temporal bone fractures affecting the ear canal
- Labyrinthine concussion disrupting inner ear fluid
- Traumatic brain injury affecting how your brain processes sound
- Damage to auditory nerves carrying signals from ear to brain
Blood Flow Disruption
Neck injuries are common in car accidents and could temporarily or permanently alter blood flow to the inner ear, causing oxygen deprivation. Even brief interruptions to this blood supply can result in sudden loss of hearing.
Secondary Infections and Inflammation
Trauma to the ear region can create pathways for infection or trigger inflammatory responses that cause delayed hearing loss days or weeks after your accident. This delayed onset often leads victims to overlook the connection to their crash.
Accident-related hearing damage often appears immediately but can also develop gradually in the days and weeks following your crash. This is why prompt medical evaluation is crucial after any collision, even if you initially feel fine.
What Type of Hearing Problems Victims Have After a Car Accident?
Due to the impact and forces involved in a car accident, victims are vulnerable to various types of injuries. Some of the injuries victims might experience could be:
- Muffled Hearing: This may feel like listening underwater or having cotton in your ears. It can be caused by ear trauma, whiplash or a burst eardrum.
- Tinnitus: Ringing, buzzing or hissing sounds in the ears, often following head or neck injuries.
- Hearing Loss: This can be either temporary or permanent and is often caused by damage to the inner ear structures or auditory pathways.
- Dizziness or Vertigo: These symptoms can indicate inner ear damage, affecting balance and hearing.
- Ear Pain or Fullness: A sensation of pressure or fullness in the ears, which might suggest damage affecting hearing acuity
- Conductive Hearing Loss: This occurs when sound waves cannot travel efficiently through the outer ear, ear canal, or middle ear to reach the inner ear.
- Sensorineural Hearing Loss: SHL is caused by damage to the inner ear or the auditory nerve pathways. This typically occurs after loud noises or infections.
- Mixed Hearing Loss: A combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. This means there are issues in the outer or middle ear, the inner ear, or the auditory nerve.
- Hyperacusis: A rare condition where sounds are perceived as unbearably loud and painful daily.
Proving Your Hearing Loss Is Link to the Accident
Establishing a clear connection between your car accident and hearing loss can help strengthen your case and increase your chances of receiving a claim. Insurance companies often challenge these claims, arguing that hearing problems existed before the crash or stem from other causes.
Here is how to build a compelling case that proves your hearing damage resulted directly from the accident.
- Seek Immediate Medical Attention: Visit an emergency room or your primary doctor as soon as you notice any changes to your hearing.
- Specialized Medical Testing: Consult with a hearing specialist who can conduct evaluations, such as pure tone audiometry tests, speech recognition assessments and tympanometry.
- Collect Documents of Pre-Accident Hearing Status: Previous hearing test results or medical records showing no prior complaints can debunk claims that your hearing loss predated the crash.
- Connect Specific Accident Factors to Injuries: Work with your attorney to document details that could cause hearing damage, such as airbag deployment, window glass shatter or head impact against vehicle surfaces.
- Expert Medical Testimony: Hearing specialist doctors, such as audiologists and otolaryngologists, can provide expert testimony explaining the extent of your permanent hearing damage or how the crash caused it.
- Consistent Medical Treatment: Maintain follow-up appointments and comply with recommended treatment to show the validity of your condition. It also creates an ongoing record of your hearing issues and their impact on your life.
- Daily Impact Documentation: Keep a detailed journal describing how your hearing loss affects your daily activities, work performance, relationships and emotional well-being. This step can help quantify non-economic damages and reinforce the seriousness of your injuries.
What Compensation I Can Recover for Accident Hearing Loss
The type of compensation you can recover depends on the specific details of your case. However, hearing loss from a car accident can affect every aspect of your daily life.
Below are some of the types of compensation you may be able to recover after suffering accident-related hearing damage:
Medical Expenses
You deserve full reimbursement for all hearing-related medical costs. Modern hearing aids typically cost between $3,000 and $7,000 per ear and need to be replaced every three to five years. These expenses can accumulate quickly, especially over a lifetime.
Some related medical expenses for hearing loss after an accident may include:
- Emergency room and hospital bills
- Diagnostic tests and evaluations
- Specialist consultations with audiologists and ENT physicians
- Hearing aids and assistive listening devices
- Medical device maintenance, batteries and replacements
- Surgical interventions when applicable
- Ongoing therapy and rehabilitation
- Future medical care related to your hearing loss
Lost Income and Earning Capacity
Hearing loss can significantly impact your ability to work. For professionals in fields that require clear communication, such as education, customer service or healthcare, hearing damage can be career-ending, resulting in substantial lifetime earnings losses.
Below are some of the ways that your income could be affected after a hearing loss due to an accident.
- Wages lost during recovery and treatment
- Reduced earnings if you cannot return to your previous position
- Diminished future earning potential
- Job retraining costs if your hearing loss prevents returning to your profession
- Lost advancement opportunities
- Early retirement considerations
Pain and Suffering
Non-economic damages compensate for the physical and emotional toll of hearing loss. These damages recognize that the inability to fully participate in conversations and enjoy sounds most people take for granted represents a significant loss to your quality of life.
- Physical discomfort from tinnitus (constant ringing or buzzing)
- Sleep disturbances caused by hearing damage
- Mental anguish and emotional distress
- Anxiety and depression related to communication difficulties
- Loss of enjoyment in music, conversations and environmental sounds
- Social isolation resulting from communication challenges
Call Roden Law After Suffering from Hearing Loss in a Charleston Car Crash
Living with hearing loss after a car accident creates daily challenges most people do not consider. Background noise in restaurants can make dining out frustrating, and the constant ringing in your ears may disrupt your sleep. These inconveniences and significant losses deserve fair compensation.
At Roden Law, we have helped our clients secure millions of dollars in compensation. During a free consultation, we can determine if you have a valid case. There are no upfront costs or fees for any of our legal services.
Speak to one of our attorneys today: 1-844-RESULTS.