If You Have Tinnitus but Hear Well, Do You Need a Hearing Test?

By Robert Sweetow, PhD

Originally published in the Spring 2019 issue of Tinnitus Today magazine.

Many people with tinnitus question the necessity of a hearing test if their hearing seems normal. Here are four reasons why it is still important to receive an audiologic evaluation, even in the apparent absence of hearing loss.

  1. To determine the appropriate treatment, professionals need to know whether the origin of an individual’s tinnitus is related to damage to the auditory system (it usually is) or to another health-related matter. Hearing loss is an insidious symptom. A person may have damage to literally thousands of hair cells (humans have about 20,000 in each ear) before he or she would even perceive any hearing loss. This is particularly relevant when the hearing loss is limited to the high frequencies, as is frequently the case. This damage to the cochlea is sufficient to cause tinnitus without simultaneously creating a perceived loss in hearing.
  2. Tinnitus often precedes perceptible hearing loss, so it is important to establish baseline data for future comparison.
  3. Many treatment procedures utilize sound-producing devices designed to distract, relax, partially mask, and/or facilitate habituation. These devices include, but are not limited to, noise or tonal generators and hearing aids. Most of these require tinnitus matching procedures (in addition to a basic audiogram) to determine the best parameters in which to program the instruments.
  4. An appointment with an audiologist can provide helpful suggestions regarding how to best manage and cope with tinnitus.

Why go? The audiogram (as part of an audiological evaluation) doesn’t simply determine the presence, absence, or degree of hearing loss. It also provides critical information used in ascertaining the overall condition of your auditory system as well as establishing parameters for tinnitus management procedures.

Sweetow

Robert Sweetow, PhD, is a professor emeritus and former director of audiology at the University of California, San Francisco. He earned his undergraduate degree in communicative disorders from the University of Iowa, a master’s from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in audiology from Northwestern University. He is the co-developer of the LACE (Listening and Communication Enhancement) auditory training program. His research interests include amplification, counseling, rehabilitation, neuroscience, and tinnitus. Dr. Sweetow has written 25 textbook chapters and over 130 scientific articles and has been invited to speak at more than 300 scientific meetings worldwide. He is Editor-at-Large of Tinnitus Today magazine, a reviewer for several journals, author of Counseling for Hearing Aid Fittings, and a former member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA). In 2008, Dr. Sweetow was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award by the AAA.