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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Can A CT Scan Of The Temporal Bones Cause Ear Cell Damage Or Hearing Loss?

Good afternoon. After a CT scan of the temporal bones, I felt congestion and irritation in my ears inside, and hearing loss. Can radiation from a CT scan kill cells in the ear? Have there been cases where patients experienced a slight hearing loss after a CT scan?
posted on Fri, 1 Aug 2025
Twitter Tue, 26 Aug 2025 Answered on
Twitter Tue, 2 Sep 2025 Last reviewed on
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello,

Hearing changes after a CT scan are almost certainly from an underlying ear condition, not from the radiation itself. Some ear diseases like otosclerosis, chronic infection, cholesteatoma or tumors may cause progressive hearing loss independently of the scan. Temporal bone CT scan is ordered to detect or rule out the above-mentioned ear problems as they are all temporal bone–related problems.

The doses from a diagnostic CT scan of the temporal lobe are far below the levels that may cause ear cell death or hearing loss. Yes, radiation can be harmful in extremely high doses (like in radiotherapy), but CT scans are thousands of times lower than those thresholds.

Documented ear/hearing damage from radiation has only been seen in patients receiving high-dose head and neck radiotherapy for cancer, not from diagnostic CT. Get your ear problem or hearing loss evaluated and treated at the earliest.

Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr Nupur K., General & Family Physician
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Can A CT Scan Of The Temporal Bones Cause Ear Cell Damage Or Hearing Loss?

Hello, Hearing changes after a CT scan are almost certainly from an underlying ear condition, not from the radiation itself. Some ear diseases like otosclerosis, chronic infection, cholesteatoma or tumors may cause progressive hearing loss independently of the scan. Temporal bone CT scan is ordered to detect or rule out the above-mentioned ear problems as they are all temporal bone–related problems. The doses from a diagnostic CT scan of the temporal lobe are far below the levels that may cause ear cell death or hearing loss. Yes, radiation can be harmful in extremely high doses (like in radiotherapy), but CT scans are thousands of times lower than those thresholds. Documented ear/hearing damage from radiation has only been seen in patients receiving high-dose head and neck radiotherapy for cancer, not from diagnostic CT. Get your ear problem or hearing loss evaluated and treated at the earliest. Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr Nupur K., General & Family Physician