Brain Injury Support Group
Traumatic brain injury occurs when a sudden trauma causes brain damage. TBI can result from a closed head injury or a penetrating head injury. Symptoms of a TBI can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the extent of the damage to the brain. Outcome can be anything from complete recovery to permanent disability or death. A coma can also affect a child's brain.
Hi, I just joined Daily Strength today. I was hit by a drunk driver in January (2010). I suffered a head injury, neck injury, upper back injury, concussion and "mild" TBI. Of course, there's nothing mild at all about mild TBI!
Since the accident, I have had severe ear pain (inner ears.) Any slightly loud noise has me keeling over in agony. It's been 9 months+ since the accident.
While other things have gotten better in that time, this problem has really only gotten a little better.
The things that have gotten better since the accident are dizziness & balance and my overall brain function. After the accident, when I would try to walk, I would fall forward. Thankfully, the dizziness is pretty much gone & I'm able to walk without falling over. I was also in a fog mentally until just about 8 weeks ago.
But it's really frustrating that this ear pain only has improved a little. After the accident, even the slightest noise had me in pain. Now I can handle low noise, but anything beyond that kills me. I've been seen by a Neurotologist and the basic answer I got was that they couldn't do anything for this particular piece of my injury.
So I'm wondering if any of you have experienced inner ear damage? Any your thoughts about it?
Thanks! :)
Since the accident, I have had severe ear pain (inner ears.) Any slightly loud noise has me keeling over in agony. It's been 9 months+ since the accident.
While other things have gotten better in that time, this problem has really only gotten a little better.
The things that have gotten better since the accident are dizziness & balance and my overall brain function. After the accident, when I would try to walk, I would fall forward. Thankfully, the dizziness is pretty much gone & I'm able to walk without falling over. I was also in a fog mentally until just about 8 weeks ago.
But it's really frustrating that this ear pain only has improved a little. After the accident, even the slightest noise had me in pain. Now I can handle low noise, but anything beyond that kills me. I've been seen by a Neurotologist and the basic answer I got was that they couldn't do anything for this particular piece of my injury.
So I'm wondering if any of you have experienced inner ear damage? Any your thoughts about it?
Thanks! :)
I don't have any personal experince with ear pain like you're asking for, but I do have some experince with pain being much more intense since my accident...some has gotten better and some has not.
I don't think the doctors want to build much hope, because...they don't honestly know if it will get better or not. Time can heal much more than they thought in my case...here's hoping it goes that way for you as well!!
Keep a pair of earplugs to block out the noise you can not take or ear muffs if plugs are not enough. I still use them when in large crowds...sends me spinning still, but now it depends on how large the croud is...smaller groups are okay now after 2 years if nobody screams or shouts near me...it is getting slowly...very slowly better!!
Yeah, I know what you're saying about the Doctors. With my injuries, they pretty much feel I will recover 100% from the TBI, based on the part of my brain that got injured. And I can say I definitely am on the very mild side of TBI.
However, with the physical part of my injuries they haven't been able to really say. I have a blood vessel that swells up in the back of my head, which they've diagnosed as vascular migraine. Then, of course, there's my ear damage. With both of these things, they have basically alluded to the fact that these may be permanent. They of course don't want to actually say that, because they don't want me getting more depressed.
I hope that I too heal more than expected. I haven't given up hope yet, since I have gotten better with other parts of my injury.
I just get worried about whether I can ever work again. I do wear ear plugs, and carry them everywhere. But I can't imagine working in an office with ear plugs all the time. I wouldn't be able to hear anything then. So, catch-22.
But my Doctors and my husband keep on telling me to be patient. I've always been a go-getter, so patience is not exactly part of my make-up.
Sorry to be so lengthy - I'm sure you (and everyone else) knows how it is. You want to just get all your feelings out!
It's honestly one of the worst things for me. Ironically, the brain stuff I feel is not as bad - but that may be because I'm in so much pain half the time that who cares about anything else?