Doctors call this heterotopic ossification. This once again makes it difficult for sound waves to travel.įor reasons researchers still don’t fully understand, brain injury can trigger abnormal bone growth throughout the body, including in the ear. When this happens, sound can no longer travel through the bones to the cochlea.Īnother, less common cause of conductive hearing loss is otosclerosis, which occurs when the three small bones in the ossicular chain fuse until they are so stiff that they can no longer vibrate. Conductive hearing loss typically occurs after the ossicular chain is either damaged or dislodged. This type of hearing loss can occur when sound cannot transmit to the inner ear. We shall discuss each type in more detail in the sections below: 1. There are many types of hearing loss that can occur after a head injury, depending on which part of the ear or brain was damaged. All of this can lead to hearing problems after head injury. If a head injury interrupts any part of this process, hearing loss can result.įor example, the blow from the injury can rupture the eardrum, dislocate the ossicle bones, or sever the auditory nerve. The cochlea senses the movement of the fluid and changes that movement into electrical impulses.įinally, the cochlea sends electrical impulses to the auditory nerve, which transmits those signals to the brain. The inner ear contains fluid and a spiral structure called the cochlea.This vibration transfers to three small bones (ossicle bones) in the middle ear which in turn transfer the vibration to the fluid in the inner ear. The middle ear contains the tympanic membrane (eardrum), a thin layer of tissue that vibrates when sound waves strike it.The outer ear consists of the ear lobe and ear canal and protects the rest of the ear.Each section plays a part in the hearing process: The ear comprises three sections: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. To understand how hearing loss can occur after a head injury, it will help to understand how the ear works. Ear Anatomy: Every Head Injury Affects the Ear Differently Therefore, even if the ear itself functions properly, a patient can still experience hearing problems. On the other hand, if the parts of the brain that process hearing become damaged or disrupted, the brain can no longer process sound. This is the most common cause of hearing loss after head injury. There are two primary ways that hearing problems can arise after a head injury or concussion: neurological damage or mechanical damage.įor example, if an injury affects the mechanical process of hearing, the ear will not transmit sound to the brain at all. Use the following links to jump to a relevant section: To help you navigate the various hearing problems that can occur after brain injury, this article will cover everything from diagnosing hearing loss to treating it. It can also be a result of problems with the ear’s mechanisms itself. Hearing loss after a head injury can occur after damage to certain parts of the brain, particularly the temporal or parietal lobes.
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