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A new study "Audiological Profile of Patients with Vitiligo" from Jammu, India, suggests that sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) might be more common in people with vitiligo than previously thought. Researchers assessed 54 adults with vitiligo and found that nearly 60% had some form of high-frequency hearing loss. None of the 50 healthy controls had similar issues.

The tests — pure tone audiometry and auditory brainstem response (ABR) — point to a possible link between inner ear melanocyte damage and vitiligo. Melanocytes, after all, don’t just live in the skin — they’re also critical for hearing.

Read the full paper 

My Personal Take

This paper adds to a long-running conversation: does vitiligo affect more than just the skin? The answer — once again — is maybe. The findings line up with what patients sometimes report: ringing in the ears, muddled sounds, needing to crank the volume just a bit more than usual.

While this study moves the conversation forward, it’s worth noting that its results come from a relatively small group, all seen at a single hospital in India. That means we can’t say for sure that the same pattern holds true everywhere, or for everyone with vitiligo. The research doesn’t prove cause and effect — it raises a red flag, not a finish line. There are plenty of variables (from genetics to daily environment) that could also affect hearing, and those weren’t fully factored in.

Now, full disclosure: acoustics was one of my favorite subjects at university. I spent a lot of time surrounded by soldering irons and half-finished loudspeakers, chasing that perfect soundstage. Our apartment walls trembled with test tones and symphonies while the neighbors — mercifully working 9-to-6 jobs — remained blissfully unaware of the audio experiments echoing through the pipes. Honestly, if remote work had been a thing back then, I’d have been evicted.

So yes, I pay attention to hearing — and studies like this one catch my interest. It’s not definitive, but it’s a reminder that the inner ear might be part of the vitiligo story.

The good news? High-frequency hearing loss is often manageable if caught early.

So if you (or your kid) has vitiligo and starts noticing hearing changes — go get it checked.

Yan Valle

Professor h.c., CEO VR Foundation | Author A No-Nonsense Guide To Vitiligo

Keep reading:

• Vitiligo and Hearing Loss
• Which diseases most commonly accompany vitiligo?

or Listen to Deep Dive in Vitiligo podcast, Episode 29:

• Melodies and Melanin: When Vitiligo Affects What You Hear