New
Is Hearing Loss More Common in People with Vitiligo?
Two studies. Two very different numbers. The real story is not a verdict. It is a reason to keep listening.
Personal commentary and research update · By Yan Valle, Vitiligo Research Foundation
In Brief
A new analysis found sensorineural hearing loss in less than 15% of adults with extensive nonsegmental vitiligo.
That is reassuring compared with the nearly 60% reported in a smaller 2025 study. But it is not a population-wide estimate, does not prove that vitiligo caused the hearing loss, or it can be reversed with any systemic vitiligo treatment.
What the evidence says
- 2025 study: 54 adults with vitiligo and 50 healthy controls; nearly 60% of the vitiligo group had some form of high-frequency hearing loss, while none of the controls did.
- 2026 analysis: 162 adults with extensive nonsegmental vitiligo; sensorineural hearing loss was found in 10.5%, 11.7% or 14.2%, depending on the frequency range used.
- Who was more likely to have it: older participants and those with greater facial involvement.
- What remains unknown: whether vitiligo caused the hearing loss, how these rates compare with age-matched people without vitiligo, and whether systemic vitiligo treatment affects hearing.
The first signal was loud
In October 2025, I wrote about a study from Jammu, India, that examined hearing in 54 adults with vitiligo and 50 healthy controls. Nearly 60% of the vitiligo group showed some degree of high-frequency hearing loss. None of the controls did.
The possible biological link makes sense. Melanocytes do not sit around in the skin merely waiting to produce pigment. They are also found in the inner ear, where they help maintain the delicate machinery behind normal hearing. If vitiligo damages those cells, hearing — particularly at higher frequencies — may be affected.
But may remains the important word.
The Jammu study came from one hospital and involved a small group. It raised a red flag, not a finish line. Genetics, age, noise exposure, medications and other health conditions can all affect hearing. Science, rather inconveniently, refuses to fit neatly inside a headline.
A red flag, not a finish line.
That distinction matters.
My personal take
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 the perfect soundstage.
Our apartment walls trembled with test tones and symphonies while the neighbors — mercifully working nine-to-six jobs — remained blissfully unaware of the audio experiments travelling through the pipes. Had remote work existed back then, I probably would have been evicted.
So yes, I keep an eye — or rather, an ear — on everything related to this question.
And now we have another report.
The newer numbers are quieter
Researchers examined hearing tests from 162 adults with extensive nonsegmental vitiligo enrolled in a Phase 2 trial of povorcitinib. This was an exploratory, post hoc analysis of trial data, not a clinical trial designed to prove that povorcitinib treats hearing loss.
Sensorineural hearing loss was defined as a bone-conduction threshold of at least 25 decibels in either ear. Depending on the frequencies included in the calculation, the baseline prevalence was:
10.5%
All-frequencies average: 250–8000 Hz
11.7%
Pure-tone average: 500–4000 Hz
14.2%
High-frequencies average: 2000–8000 Hz
Those with hearing loss were generally older. Their median age ranged from 57 to 66 years, compared with 49 years among participants without hearing loss. They also had slightly greater facial involvement. Total-body vitiligo involvement, other autoimmune diseases and previous vitiligo treatment were not significantly associated with hearing loss. Disease duration was longer among participants with hearing loss, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Why 10%–14% is not a universal vitiligo statistic
The study included adults aged 18–75 with extensive nonsegmental vitiligo. It had no age-matched control group without vitiligo. The findings therefore describe this trial population; they cannot establish the prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss among all people with vitiligo or prove that vitiligo caused it.
The newer rates are far below the nearly 60% reported in Jammu. That does not automatically make either study wrong. The populations, methods and definitions were different — which is precisely why a single study should never be asked to carry the whole argument.
What about treatment?
Hearing thresholds moved numerically in a favorable direction during up to 52 weeks of povorcitinib treatment. But none of the reported changes reached statistical significance, and the results varied widely between patients.
The treatment numbers
- All-frequencies average: −18.7% in the left ear (P=0.08) and −16.1% in the right (P=0.10).
- Pure-tone average: −13.9% in the left ear (P=0.18) and −7.2% in the right (P=0.25).
- High-frequencies average: −11.0% in the left ear (P=0.21) and −12.6% in the right (P=0.18).
A lower threshold indicates improved sensitivity to quieter sounds. All reported P values were above 0.05, so these changes were not statistically significant.
That is hardly surprising. No systemic medicine being developed for vitiligo is designed to restore sensorineural hearing loss.
Still, credit where it is due. Incyte included hearing assessments and published the numbers, including the inconclusive ones, — which is a rare sign of scientific integrity these days.
Read the 2026 report ↗
View Phase 2 trial NCT04818346 ↗
The bottom line
There is some reassuring news. In this trial population from the U.S., only 10% to 14% met the study’s definition of sensorineural hearing loss — far fewer than the earlier small study suggested.
But this is not a clean bill of hearing health for everyone with vitiligo. It is one more data point, with useful numbers and familiar limits.
If you — or your child — notice ringing, muffled sounds or another change in hearing, get it checked. Sudden hearing loss is different and deserves prompt medical attention.
No alarm bells. No miracle claim. Just another useful signal.
We’ll keep listening.
— Yan Valle, Prof. h.c.
CEO, Vitiligo Research Foundation
Suggested Reading
More context on hearing and the conditions that can travel alongside vitiligo.
Explainer
Vitiligo and Hearing Loss
Why melanocytes matter inside the ear, why high-frequency changes can escape notice, and when a hearing check may be useful.
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A practical look at the autoimmune and health conditions most often reported alongside vitiligo.
🎙 Listen to Deep Dive in Vitiligo
Podcast · Episode 29
Melodies and Melanin: When Vitiligo Affects What You Hear
A deeper conversation about melanocytes, the inner ear and what the evidence does — and does not — tell us.
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