Car accidents are traumatic events with a wide range of physical and emotional impacts. For example, hearing loss can affect your ability to work, your relationships and your enjoyment of life.
If you were involved in a collision In Windsor, Ontario and are dealing with hearing issues, Greg Monforton and Partners may be able to help. We are dedicated to helping crash victims find their path to recovery and fair compensation. Our firm has decades of experience and charges zero upfront fees to represent victims. The initial consultation is also free.
Our Windsor car accident lawyers discuss hearing impairment from car crashes below, including how it happens, symptoms to watch for and filing a claim for compensation.
Contact us today to discuss your potential case: (866) 320-4770.
How Car Crashes Can Damage Your Hearing
There are several ways car crashes may cause hearing loss:
- Excessive Noise: During impact, the noise of the collision can be intense enough to cause immediate and lasting damage to your hearing. Sudden, loud noises can lead to acoustic trauma, harming the delicate structures within your ears.
- Head/Traumatic Brain Injuries: Head injuries, common in car accidents, can affect the ear and hearing, damaging parts of the brain responsible for processing sound. This could include the following injuries:
- Ruptured Eardrums: The intense pressure from a car crash can cause eardrums to rupture, leading to immediate hearing loss.
- Damage to Inner Ear Structures: The inner ear contains delicate components like hair cells, membranes and tissues. A strong impact can damage these structures, impairing hearing.
- Disruption of Blood Flow to the Cochlea: The cochlea is essential for hearing. Trauma from a crash can disrupt blood flow to this area.
- Small Bone Injuries in the Middle Ear: Injuries like avulsion fractures may occur in the middle ear’s small bones. Sometimes this injury can only be repaired with reconstruction surgery.
- Skull Fractures Impacting the Ear Canal: Severe head trauma can lead to skull fractures that bruise or penetrate the ear canal.
- Whiplash: The rapid back-and-forth movement of the head, often experienced in car crashes, can cause auditory complications. This can affect both the mechanical and neurological components of the hearing system.
- Injuries From the Airbag: While airbags save lives, their deployment can cause injuries, including to the ears. This is because of the force and noise of an airbag when it hits vehicle occupants’ faces.
Symptoms That Often Come With Hearing Loss
There are various symptoms that often accompany impaired hearing or complete loss of hearing.
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) – victims often hear sounds that are not happening, such as soft whistling or loud whining
- Muffled hearing
- Dizziness
- Fullness in the ears
Crash victims who experience any of these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention. Doctors may be able to intervene and restore or improve your hearing. At the very least, they may be able to prevent further damage. You will likely need to be examined by a doctor specializing in ear, nose and throat injuries. Some victims may benefit from seeing an audiologist and/or neurologist.
Long-Range Effects of Hearing Loss For Crash Victims
The effects of hearing loss are far-reaching, impacting every aspect of a victim’s life. This can include:
- Withdrawing from social situations due to difficulty in hearing conversations, which can lead to depression and irritability
- Strained family relationships as communication becomes challenging
- Difficulty returning to work, especially if the job requires good hearing
- Financial consequences from medical treatments (hearing aids, surgeries, etc.) and potential loss of income
The wide-ranging impact of hearing loss/impairment makes it difficult to put a price on the injury. While compensation cannot change what happened, our experienced lawyers have seen how it can mitigate some of the effects of an injury and improve victims’ quality of life.
Linking Hearing Loss to the Car Crash
Establishing a link between the car crash and hearing loss is vital for compensation claims – you can be sure insurance companies will claim your injury was caused by something else. For example, if you are dealing with tinnitus, the insurance company may say it was caused by high blood pressure, an infection in your ear or even a medication you are taking. These are common reasons why people experience tinnitus.
Seeking medical care immediately after the accident is crucial for documentation and diagnosis. Not waiting to seek treatment shows you take the situation seriously and makes it harder to dispute what caused your injuries.
Similarly, contacting a lawyer right away can help in collecting evidence and guiding you through the legal process for compensation. By contacting and hiring an experienced lawyer, you reduce the chances you may make mistakes that could hurt your ability to secure compensation.
The Benefits of Hiring an Experienced Lawyer For a Hearing Loss/Impairment Claim
At Greg Monforton and Partners, we understand the complexities of such cases. Our role in helping crash victims includes:
- Gathering and analyzing medical evidence
- Investigating the crash scene and other evidence
- Consulting with experts to establish the impact of the injury
- Calculating the value of all damages suffered
- Navigating insurance claims and legal procedures
- Advocating for your rights to secure compensation
Find Out How an Experienced Lawyer Can Help. Contact Us.
Dealing with hearing loss after a car crash is challenging, but you are not alone. Our team at Greg Monforton and Partners is here to support you. Contact us for a free consultation to explore your options for compensation and start your journey to recovery.
Zero upfront costs. Millions recovered for our clients. (866) 320-4770