Tinnitus
Tinnitus can be a severe medical condition, therefore it should be listed if a person is filing for SSD or SSI disability benefits. This condition is most often classified as a hearing impairment. If it were listed in the SSA Blue Book impairment listings, it would be covered in the adult listings section 2.00, Special Senses and Speech - Adult. It is most often evaluated under listing 2.07, Disturbance of labyrinthine-vestibular function. The listing requires a history of frequent attacks of balance disturbance, tinnitus, and progressive loss of hearing verified by an audiometry test. If a person cannot meet this listing they may be evaluated under listing 2.10, Hearing loss not treated with cochlear implantation. There are more than 37 million American adults experiencing some kind of hearing loss. Approximately one-fourth of the adults older than 65 experience disabling hearing loss. The numbers are lower with younger groups, and some 60,000 U.S. adults have undergone cochlear ...