Is Cortisone Advisable After Suffering A Concussion?

Posted on Fri, 25 Nov 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 25 Nov 2016 Answered on

Fri, 16 Dec 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : My 22 year old son was in an auto accident a couple days ago with an air bag deployment. ER said fine for injuries, but his hearing now cuts in and periodically. He says its fine and has only happened once today, but I read online that cortisone is sometimes prescribed after air bag deployment to protect ear. Do you know if cortisone is the standard of care. We tried to find a local ENT today, but everyone is on holiday.

Answered by Dr. Sumit Bhatti (-3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Details as discussed below:

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for your query.

1. Air bag deployment leads to concussion. This may lead to a Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS) in hearing.

2. Get a Pure Tone Audiogram (PTA) done, preferably tomorrow and the day after. If this TTS persists beyond three days, even if intermittent, he should be examined by an ENT Specialist. This will help rule out other causes for hearing loss, such as Conductive Hearing Loss (CHL) in which case the treatment can be different.

3. Steroids (such as cortisone) will help protect the hearing. In high doses, they are the mainstay in the treatment of Sudden SensoriNeural Hearing Loss (SSNHL). The ideal treatment window is within 4 weeks.

I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any more questions I will be available to answer them.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar