Actually, I do believe the audio nerve can be damaged from noise. The nerve can be physically burned by a large amount of stimulation from the cochlea. It's like running a larger than normal current through a wire; the shielding burns off, but in the nerves case, this shielding will actually grow back. But in many cases the nerve is damaged and that's where the lack of signal from the cochlea can be.
But then wouldn't my T be super loud? I don't think it's very loud. How can I know if I have cochlear damage or auditory nerve damage?
Edit: I don't think I have to worry about auditory nerve damage...
http://www.deafwebsites.com/hearing-loss/auditory-nerve-damage.html