You Know when you’re watching an action movie and the hero has a thunderous explosion nearby and their ears begin to ring? Well, at least some amount of mild brain trauma has likely happened to them.
To be sure, brain injuries aren’t the part that most action movies linger on. But that high-pitched ringing is something called tinnitus. Tinnitus is most often discussed in the context of hearing loss, but actually, traumatic brain injuries like concussions can also cause this particular ringing in the ears.
After all, one of the most common traumatic brain injuries is a concussion. And they can occur for many reasons (for instance, falls, sporting accidents, and motor vehicle accidents). How something such as a concussion triggers tinnitus can be, well, complex. Luckily, treating and managing your conditions is usually very achievable.
What is a concussion?
A concussion is a particular kind of traumatic brain injury (TBI). One way to view it is that your brain is protected by sitting tightly in your skull. The brain will begin to move around in your skull when something shakes your head violently. But your brain could end up smashing into the inside of your skull because of the little amount of additional space in there.
This causes harm to your brain! Multiple sides of your skull can be hit by your brain. And when this occurs, you get a concussion. This illustration makes it quite evident that a concussion is literally damage to the brain. Symptoms of concussions include the following:
- Nausea and vomiting
- A slow or delayed response to questions
- Ringing in the ears
- Slurred speech
- Headaches
- Blurry vision or dizziness
- Confusion and loss of memory
Although this list makes the point, it’s certainly not exhaustive. A few weeks to a few months is the normal duration of concussion symptoms. Brain injury from one concussion is typically not permanent, most people will end up making a full recovery. But repeated concussions can lead to irreversible brain damage.
How is tinnitus triggered by a concussion?
Can a concussion mess with your hearing? Really?
It’s an intriguing question: what is the link between concussions and tinnitus? After all, concussions won’t be the only brain traumas that can cause tinnitus symptoms. That ringing in your ears can be set off by even minor brain injuries. That may occur in a few ways:
- Interruption of the Ossicular Chain: There are three tiny bones in your ear that help send sounds to your brain. A major impact (the type that can trigger a concussion, for example) can jostle these bones out of place. This can interrupt your ability to hear and cause tinnitus.
- Damage to your hearing: For members of the armed forces, TBIs and concussions are often related to distance to an explosion. Permanent hearing loss can be triggered when the stereocilia in your ears are damaged by the incredibly noisy shock wave of an explosion. Tinnitus isn’t always caused by a concussion, but they definitely do share some common causes.
- A “labyrinthine” concussion: This kind of concussion takes place when the inner ear is injured as a result of your TBI. This damage can produce inflammation and cause both hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Disruption of communication: Concussion can, in some cases, harm the parts of the brain that manage hearing. When this happens, the messages that get transmitted from your ear cannot be precisely processed, and tinnitus may happen as a result.
- Nerve damage: A concussion may also cause damage to the nerve that is in charge of transmitting the sounds you hear to your brain.
- Meniere’s Syndrome: The onset of a condition known as Meniere’s Syndrome can be a consequence of a TBI. This is caused by an accumulation of pressure inside of the inner ear. Sooner or later, Meniere’s syndrome can lead to significant tinnitus and hearing loss.
It’s significant to stress that every traumatic brain injury and concussion is a bit different. Personalized care and instructions, from us, will be provided to every patient. You should certainly contact us for an evaluation if you believe you might have suffered a traumatic brain injury.
How do you treat tinnitus from a concussion?
Typically, it will be a temporary scenario if tinnitus is the consequence of a concussion. How long can tinnitus last after a concussion? Well, it might last weeks or possibly months. Then again, if your tinnitus has lasted for more than a year, it’s likely to be permanent. Over time, in these circumstances, treatment plans to manage your condition will be the optimal plan.
This can be accomplished by:
- Hearing aid: Sometimes, tinnitus becomes pronounced because the rest of the world takes a back seat (as is the case with non-TBI-caused hearing loss, everything else gets quieter, so your tinnitus seems louder). Hearing aids help your tinnitus fade into the background by turning up the volume on everything else.
- Masking device: This device is similar to a hearing aid, only instead of helping you hear things louder, it creates a particular noise in your ear. Your specific tinnitus symptoms determine what sound the device will generate helping you ignore the tinnitus sounds and be better able to focus on voices and other external sounds.
- Therapy: In some cases, therapy, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be used to help patients disregard the noise caused by their tinnitus. You ignore the sound after acknowledging it. This technique takes therapy and practice.
In some cases, additional therapies might be required to achieve the desired result. Treatment of the underlying concussion may be necessary in order to make the tinnitus go away. The best course of action will depend on the nature of your concussion and your TBI. In this regard, an accurate diagnosis is key.
Find out what the right plan of treatment may be for you by getting in touch with us.
You can control tinnitus caused by a TBI
A concussion can be a significant and traumatic situation in your life. It’s never a good day when you get a concussion! And if you’ve been in a car accident and your ears are ringing, you might wonder why.
Tinnitus may surface immediately or in the following days. But you can effectively control tinnitus after a crash and that’s important to keep in mind. Call us today to schedule an appointment.
