Longtime sufferer of tinnitus. This has been my understanding as well. From what I understand, once the hair dies, the brain seems to compensate by filling it with eternal noise. If there is a cure (my hopes are low), my guess is that we need to have a better understanding of the brain.
A random idea: that mechanism reminds me of phantom limb pain. I wonder if there could be a treatment analogous to mirror therapy, at least for monaural tinnitus.
