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The uncomfortable personal injury that is acoustic shock can occur in many different work places, from a police firing range, to working in a telephone call-centre, or when a tire explodes after being pumped up too far in a garage.
Not to be confused with acoustic neuroma, which worsens over time and is caused by a tumour, the Health and Safety Executive states that acoustic shock tends to arise after "incidents involving exposure to short duration, high frequency, high intensity sounds".
Immediate symptoms of a shock wave may include ear pain, tinnitus, complete hearing loss and trouble keeping balance due to the disturbance caused in the inner ear. Most of these symptoms are only temporary but depending on the extent of damage caused to the ear and severity of the symptoms, the prescribed treatment will vary.
One treatment for tinnitus and hearing loss caused by acoustic shock is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).
HBOT
Studies have shown that there is a large drop in oxygen to the cochlea, the auditory segment of the inner ear, after acoustic shock and during gradual hearing loss. HBOT reportedly helps to renew the flow of highly oxygenated blood to this part of the ear, prompting healing to commence. For example, swollen hair cells can regain their function and so a patient may recover some or all of their hearing as a result.
The individual who is suffering from acoustic shock is closed into a hyperbaric chamber which allows a high-pressure atmosphere to be sustained within it. These chambers are usually used to treat divers suffering from decompression sickness, also known as the bends.
Exposed to 100% oxygen through a face-mask, in the chamber's controlled atmospheric pressure of 2.5 times greater than what is normal at sea-level, parts of the patient's body which have been oxygen deprived receive a greatly increased flow of oxygen due to the increased pressure of the compartment.
HBOT was first developed in 1662 by a British clergyman called Henshaw. He did not have a medical background, but made a simple hyperbaric chamber and named it his "domicilium". He aimed to treat acute disorders and chronic disease.
The hyperbaric chamber was used widely in the 1830s for treating illness and although the efficacy of this therapy for some complaints is debated, it is offered to patients by the NHS.
Compensation claims for acoustic shock
If you have a hearing problem, always see a medical professional before commencing any treatment.
If, due to a lack of protective equipment in a noisy work place, you have suffered a personal injury in the form of tinnitus or hearing loss as a result of acoustic shock, then our expert solicitors could help you get 100% compensation.
To contact us about your acoustic shock case, call us direct on 0800 10 757 95, talk via live help with an adviser, fill in our short online claim form, or just request a call back.
