{"id":3113,"date":"2023-11-08T09:05:37","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T16:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/?p=3113"},"modified":"2023-11-08T09:40:14","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T16:40:14","slug":"traumatic-brain-injury-and-the-ear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/traumatic-brain-injury-and-the-ear\/","title":{"rendered":"Traumatic Brain Injury and the Ear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Patients with TBI should be evaluated by audiologists for hearing and inner ear balance dysfunction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mary Rose Goldstein, Au.D.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) affects approximately 55 million people world-wide annually and is associated with a wide array of physical, cognitive, emotional, or sensory symptoms. TBI can cause symptoms related to the inner ear. The following ear related problems may be associated with TBI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Hearing loss:<\/strong> This may be caused by direct damage along any point of the auditory pathway, including conductive or sensorineural hearing losses, with the most common areas of damage being the tympanic membrane, middle ear, or cochlea.  If hearing loss is permanent, aural rehabilitation such as hearing aids or cochlear implants may be recommended. If hearing loss is conductive, this may require medical treatment by an otologist.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Tinnitus<\/strong>: Also referred to as \u201cringing in the ears\u201d. Tinnitus is the most common ear associated symptom of TBI and may be a result of either damage to the inner ear or the auditory processing area of the brain. Tinnitus following TBI may be temporary or permanent. Tinnitus that is persistent and bothersome may be treated via sound management techniques and tinnitus maskers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Central auditory effects:<\/strong> TBI may affect the brain\u2019s ability process sounds due to damage occurring in the area of the brain responsible for auditory processing, which can lead to difficulty understanding speech, localizing sound, and distinguishing between multiple sounds sources. As such, patients may notice difficulty hearing in background noise.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Dizziness: <\/strong>Dizziness affects approximately half of people with TBI. The inner ear vestibular system is responsible for balance and coordination, which may become affected by TBI. Most commonly, dizziness is a mechanism of benign postural positional vertigo (BPPV) which is associated with dislodged otoconia, and can be treated by repositioning procedures. Less commonly, a fistula in the inner ear may occur which may require surgical repair.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    While these symptoms may be associated with TBI, it is important to note that the severity and nature of the symptoms can vary widely depending on the nature of the TBI. Some of the symptoms such as hearing loss may be temporary for some, while others may have permanent hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is critical that individuals who have experienced a TBI should seek medical evaluation from specialists such as neurologists and audiologists. The audiologists can assess the current inner ear balance and hearing function in order to develop an appropriate treatment plan to improve quality of life for a patient with TBI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you have experienced hearing or balance symptoms associated with a TBI, please contact our office to schedule with our audiologists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    References:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Board on Health Care Services; Board on Health Sciences Policy; Committee on Accelerating Progress in Traumatic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Brain Injury Research and Care; Matney C, Bowman K, Berwick D, editors. Traumatic Brain Injury: A Roadmap for Accelerating Progress. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2022 Feb 1. 2, The Scope and Burden of Traumatic Brain Injury. Available from: https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK580076\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Chiasson, Carl. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) primer for hearing healthcare practitioner. The Hearing Review. 2015.  https:\/\/hearingreview.com\/hearing-loss\/hearing-loss-prevention\/industrial-military\/traumatic-brain-injury-tbi-primer-hearing-healthcare-practitioner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. Tun C, Hogan A, Fitzharris K. Hearing and vestibular dysfunction caused by blast injuries and traumatic Brain Injuries. Hear Jour. 2009:62(11):24-26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4. Koshimori Y, Johns K, Green R. A guide for hearing healthcare providers to characteristics of traumatic brain injury. Hear Jour. 2009: 62(11):17-23<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5. Fausti SA. Auditory and Vestibular Dysfunction Associated with Blast-Related Truamatic Brain Injury. J Rehab Res Devel. 2009;46(6):800-809.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    6. Lew HL, Jerger JF, Guillory SB, Henry JA. Auditory dysfunction in traumatic brain injury. J Rehab Res Devel. 2007;44(7):921-928.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Link to more Ear & Hearing news articles here!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Patients with TBI should be evaluated by audiologists for hearing and inner ear balance dysfunction Mary Rose Goldstein, Au.D. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) affects approximately 55 million people world-wide annually and is associated with a wide array of physical, cognitive, emotional, or sensory symptoms. TBI can cause symptoms related to the inner ear. The following…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3113"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3128,"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3113\/revisions\/3128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neurotucson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}