Hearing loss
In about 90% of cases, tinnitus is found to coexist with hearing loss. Tinnitus and hearing loss relate on more than one level. Hearing loss can be a causative factor of tinnitus, for example, in noise induced and senile hearing loss induce tinnitus. The other possible relation is that these two conditions may co-exist, where one may mask the perception of the other. The two conditions seem to share the causative underlying trauma.
Tinnitus and hearing loss also share laterality in unilateral cases. Right-sided hearing loss presents with right-sided tinnitus. The frequency range effected in both conditions also overlaps. For example, a low-frequency hearing loss may occur with buzzing type of tinnitus. This inter-relationship means that treating the hearing loss in the affected ear by a cochlear implant also relieves tinnitus.