I want to take a short break from my series 'Tinnitus Remedies and Treatments' and today focus on the issue of hearing damage in connection with tinnitus. I addressed this already shortly in the article 'What is tinnitus?', but it is so important that I felt it should be a separate entry.

Most people suffering from tinnitus are being subjected to hearing tests by their doctor, and are subsequently told they have some degree of hearing loss in a certain frequency range (let's say 20db at 8000 Hz). This however should not be taken as a sign that the inner ear is actually damaged in any way (which is what some tinnitus theories are proposing). Often the apparent 'hearing loss' is only due to the fact that because of the tinnitus the test tone can not be heard anymore that well. If the tinnitus subsides, the hearing tests should therefore return a normal result again. In many cases (for instance mine) there is indeed no conceivable cause that could have caused a hearing damage. And according to more recent research, the tinnitus is in these cases solely a nervous problem (see the Tinnitus.org Website).

Of course, hearing damage can occur for instance through a noise trauma, and often this will go along with a tinnitus, but the reverse is in general not true.

So people should not be misled by the test diagnosis 'hearing loss' in connection with tinnitus and wrongly come to the conclusion they have an irreversible hearing damage. In many cases the tinnitus will improve and with it the apparent 'hearing loss' as well.

Thomas