I don't think saying tinnitus is one of the most "painful" conditions is correct wording as it's not actually bringing you physical pain unless you have hyperacusis.
It's definitely emotionally taxing and the distress it brings about is absolutely terrible. Extreme tinnitus brings on a lack of sleep, anxiety, depression (which may lead to using meds which bring about more conditions) so it can be a domino effect.
Some of the painful things on that list are painful but temporary and curable - I'd rather have a month of terrible pain vs severe tinnitus for the rest of my life for sure.
But even taking that list above, I know for a fact that things like Trigeminal Neuralgia and CRPS are WAY worse than severe tinnitus. A good percentage of these people actually have hyperacusis & loud tinnitus on top of neurological pain that meds don't even begin to touch. With Trigeminal Neuralgia you're forced to live off of heavy meds that usually induce tinnitus, brain fog, extreme fatigue. Many have teeth crumble and fall out due to the meds. It's horrifying. Many experience ear fullness and pain as well due to where the nerve is.
This is why I say I don't think it's right to say tinnitus is the most painful, horrifying thing in the world. It certainly is horrifying but I think what many don't consider is there is a huge list of ailments that can leave you with incurable pain and horrific tinnitus & hyperacusis on TOP of it all.
Check out @firebutterfly8.27 on Instagram if you wanna see what it's like to live with CRPS. I believe she suffers from tinnitus & hyperacusis on top of it all.
You do have some good points.
There are other horrid conditions of course.
Some time ago (before tinnitus), I had a very bad tooth infection, which resulted in wall climbing, excruciating pain.
Due to the infection, the pain killers would only give me about a 5 minute window, during which I felt no pain.
Some would say it's only 5 minutes, therefore somewhat insignificant.
But at that time to me that 5 minutes meant everything to me.
It gave me a chance to reset and take a few breaths before being overcome by the pain again.
What I'm getting at is this:
Most of those conditions above can be subdued for at least some short period of time, due to the
wide variety of available painkillers (anything from cannabis to morphine and beyond).
Most of them also get taken more seriously than tinnitus, as I doubt that any medical practitioner would dare to say "just learn to live with it" (or even make some kind of a lame joke) about any of the conditions on that list.
The problem with tinnitus is the fact, that there is
absolutely nothing you can take (or do) to stop it even for 5 seconds and it never goes away.
Not one single thing (aside from suicide).
From the psychological standpoint, this is a huge game changer, because of the relentless permanency with which you get tortured 24/7, with no chance for relief.
That is why I insist that this condition is simply the worst in existence.
And I'm no stranger to adversity and pain either.