An injury that causes you to become legally deaf or forces you to live with impaired hearing can change your life forever. In addition to expensive medical bills for hearing aids, cochlear implants and other treatments, you may not be able to maintain the job you had before the injury. Your enjoyment of certain activities could also be compromised due to hearing problems.

If your hearing loss was caused by someone else’s negligence or if it was related to your workplace activities, you could be entitled to compensation. Unfortunately, many lawyers are not equipped or lack experience in dealing with cases that involve such serious injuries. So if you are living with severe hearing loss, you need to find a Houston attorney with experience representing victims with this level of catastrophic injury and who has the skill to get you the comprehensive compensation that you deserve.

Information on Deafness and Hearing Loss Injuries

There are many varieties of hearing loss, including:

  • Partial
  • Total
  • Sudden
  • Gradual
  • Affecting one ear
  • Affecting both ears

Hearing occurs when sound enters the ear and strikes the eardrum. This makes the eardrum vibrate. These vibrations are strengthened in the middle ear by three bones, which translate the tremors into nerve impulses. The nerve impulses then travel to the brain and are interpreted as sounds.

An individual who is unable to detect sounds at an amplitude of 20 decibels in a frequency range of 800 to 1,800 vibrations per second has a hearing problem. Under normal circumstances, the ear can recognize sounds in the range of 20 to 20,000 vibrations per second.

Causes of Deafness and Hearing Loss Injuries

Deafness and hearing loss can take place in many different scenarios. One of the most common reasons that people lose their ability to hear is prolonged exposure to high levels of noise. This can affect individuals in every age category and it develops over a long period of time. Through the years, noises at work can add up to hearing impairment.

A single exposure to an extremely loud noise can also cause accidental hearing loss. A good example would be an explosion at close range. Head injuries or traumatic brain injuries are other major causes of accidental hearing loss.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), approximately 4,000 new cases of sudden deafness happen every year in the United States.

Types of Hearing Loss Injuries

There are three main types of hearing loss. These injuries can be caused by many different circumstances, some of which may be successfully treated with medicine or surgery.

  • Conductive hearing loss – Injury to the ear canal, eardrum or the middle ear with its little bones called the malleus, incus and stapes, can contribute to deafness.
  • Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) -This form of hearing loss happens because of problems of the inner ear and is also known as nerve-related hearing loss.
  • Mixed hearing loss -This kind of deafness is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. When a deafness of this type occurs, it can mean there is damage to both the middle and inner ear.

Costs of Hearing Loss Injuries

The Better Hearing Institute (BHI) estimates that 34 million Americans live with untreated hearing loss. Many people are underemployed due to their hearing disability.

A person who has experienced catastrophic hearing loss due to an injury may require a lifetime of medical care, hearing aids or surgical implants, which could negatively affect earning potential. If someone else’s negligence was to blame for the accident, the injured victim could be entitled to compensation for past and future losses as well as non-economic losses, including pain and suffering and emotional distress.

Workers whose hearing loss was caused by ongoing exposure to loud noises at work could be able to collect workers’ compensation benefits for their hearing loss.

Contact Accidental Hearing Loss Lawyer Kevin Krist Today

If you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic accident that resulted in hearing loss or deafness in southeast Texas, including Houston, Harris County, Pasadena, Katy, Baytown, Sugar Land, Conroe and League City, contact Kevin Krist today for a free consultation about your case.

Simply call the Law Office of Kevin Krist at 281-677-3962 or use the firm’s online form. Let Kevin Krist tell you how he can put his personal, proven experience to work for you and your family. Kevin Krist represents personal injury victims on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no fees unless he recovers compensation on your claim.