Spinal Cord Injuries Can Lead to Hearing Loss
Your spinal cord is the bundle of nerves that runs through the center of your vertebrae. Its job is to carry messages from your brain to the rest of your body about sensation and movement.
Did you know that if you injure your spinal cord, you’re more likely to experience hearing loss? We review more about this link below.
About Spinal Cord Injuries
Below is an overview about spinal cord injuries.
Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries may be caused by incidents such as:
- Falls
- Automobile accidents
- Sports injuries
- Diving accidents
- Trampoline accidents
- Abscesses on the spinal cord
- Birth injuries
- Violent injuries
Symptoms of Spinal Cord Injuries
If you injure your spinal cord, you may experience symptoms such as:
- Loss of feeling, muscle movement or reflexes.
- Breathing problems.
- Loss of bowel and bladder function.
- Quadriplegia (loss of function in the arms and legs).
- Paraplegia (loss of function in the legs and lower body).
Treating Spinal Cord Injuries
There is no way to repair a damaged spinal cord. However, surgery can be performed to evaluate the injury, stabilize fractured bones, release pressure from the injury and manage associated injuries.
Other interventions for a spinal cord injury include:
- Observation and management in the ICU.
- Corticosteroids to decrease swelling.
- Mechanical ventilator to help you breathe.
- Bladder catheter to drain urine.
- Feeding tube to provide nutrition and calories.
The Link Between Spinal Cord Injuries & Hearing Loss
One 2021 Taiwanese study reports that people who experience spinal cord injuries have a 1.75 times higher risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss than the general population.
Researchers uncovered this by examining data from Taiwan’s Longitudinal Health Insurance Database from 2005. This database indicated that over 2,000 participants had experienced a spinal cord injury, and over 8,000 people had not, so they were part of the control group.
Throughout the follow-up period, 30 patients who had a spinal cord injury and 87 who had not, developed sensorineural hearing loss.
The study authors report, “Our study showed that patients with spinal cord injury have an increased risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss.”
Sensorineural hearing loss causes trouble hearing in a variety of environments, especially complex ones like Brickhouse during a special event. For more information or to schedule an appointment with a hearing expert, call DeFatta Health today.
