Diabetes-related sensorineural hearing impairment affects people’s ability to hear and understand sounds. Although evidence from as early as the mid-19th century linked diabetes with hearing loss, a degree of controversy has surrounded this association. However, recent research findings suggest that impaired hearing is not only very common among older and middle-aged people with diabetes but affects young people with diabetes to a greater degree than those without the condition. Kathleen Bainbridge looks at research carried out in this field to date and makes a call for further attention to be given this under-recognized diabetes complication.