Various forms of sensorineural hearing loss today represent our greatest unsolved challenge. The cochlear implant, brainstem-evoked response audiometry, improved forms of electro-acoustic amplification, audiologic rehabilitation, better ways of delivering comprehensive services to the public, and, of course, the tinnitus masker, are significant developments.

Thirty years of experience with the hearing impaired has convinced me that tinnitus causes as much suffering and anguish, if not more, than hearing loss itself. Who among us has not been frustrated by our inability to provide relief to the tinnitus sufferer? How often have we told our patients that they must learn to live with this problem, that we have nothing specific to offer them, that we do not even know whether a successful stapedectomy will provide amelioration of this aspect of the problem? And how often has the patient told us in one way or another that those of us who do not suffer from this condition cannot understand what it is to live with this problem for months, years, or a lifetime.