Noam Hassenfeld

The patients were getting less sound input because they had hidden hearing loss.

But then he looked at the later peaks on the squiggle, the ones that showed what happened as the sound signal winds its way into the brain.

For tinnitus patients, the peak at the brainstem was larger than at the nerve.

Something was making up for the hidden hearing loss and turning the volume up.

Somehow, the brain is able to catch up

Stefan was basically seeing the seeds of tinnitus on this squiggle graph.

This thing that didn't show up in normal hearing tests.

This thing that so many patients had been told wasn't real.

He saw it happening.

The idea that hidden hearing loss is directly related to tinnitus, it's a big step forward.

But there's still so much we don't know.

Like, we know the basics, that tinnitus usually starts with hearing loss, which can be caused by things like listening to loud music, or a virus, or aging.

But not everyone with hearing loss hears this constant ringing.

Scientists still don't really understand what takes someone from hearing damage to tinnitus, why this happens for some people and not others.

Once she got diagnosed with tinnitus, Kelly started doing all kinds of research online.

She was trying to find anything that could help her feel better.

This kind of thing is called a masker because it masks the sound of tinnitus.

And Kelly eventually went to her audiologist to get hearing aids that played these sounds for her all the time.

But because the hearing aids also amplify sounds, she had to wear earmuffs over them too.

which isn't great when you're in your 20s and just trying to go outside.