A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) that occurs after a major blow or hit to the head. Upon impact, the brain is bumped inside the skull and hits the sides of the cranium, which can bruise the brain and tear nerve fibers. Any injury to the brain impairs its normal functioning and causes a wide variety of symptoms (they’re commonly associated with nausea, vomiting, confusion, amnesia and loss of consciousness). This will affect nearly every bodily process, including the auditory and hearing processes. Let’s explore how this happens.
Direct Impact on the Ear
If the concussive blow to the head happened to or in the vicinity of the ear (such as a blow directly to the ear, or a blast of noise at close range), the structures within your ear may be directly damaged. Trauma to the inner or middle ear is called acoustic trauma, and it can lead to ear pain, balance problems, hearing loss and tinnitus. Hearing loss resulting from damage to the outer or middle ear is called conductive hearing loss.
Impact on Auditory Processing
Our ears pick up sound information, but it is our brain that truly hears. Sound waves funnel through the ear and get turned into electrical impulses, which are then transmitted over the auditory nerve to the deep brain to be processed and interpreted as sound.
If the parts of the brain that carry out this process—such as the auditory nerve or the auditory processing centers in the deep brain—are impacted or bruised, the brain’s ability to process sound will be impeded, even if the ear itself did not sustain an injury. This is called sensorineural hearing loss. The brain may not receive sound information from the inner ear, be unable to interpret the sound information it does receive, process it incorrectly as tinnitus, or process the sound information very slowly. In that event, you may have difficulty distinguishing words in noisy environments, due to the large volume of auditory information your bruised brain is trying to process.
When to Seek Help
Whenever you notice a change in your hearing, it’s a good idea to consult an audiologist. They can assess your ear health and determine if your hearing loss is conductive or sensorineural. Our audiologists at SH Audiology can also assist with dizziness and balance if your concussion or TBI has caused balance issues.
