"Is the Ringing Actually Any Louder, or Exactly the Same?"

So I'm always thinking to myself "when I put my earplugs in, is the ringing actually louder than it was in the beginning?" At times I swear I'm having a spike, but then think to myself "I was complaining about the same thing this time last year."

My paranoia is that it is slowly getting worse and worse in tiny increments, so I don't really notice, like a frog in a boiling kettle. I worry "you're just reassuring yourself, it IS getting louder." Which of course makes me stressed, and leads me to think "it's just the stress/mental factor..."

 

You should only have major distinctions. Do you have a fan/AC? If you didn't hear it over it before, but do hear it over it now, yes, it got worse. Did you hear it over the shower before? Do you now?

Listening to differences in tinnitus levels when ears are blocked with earplugs or fingers... is... pointless. It's normal to have slight variations.

Stop this practice!

 

Yes, stop yourself from doing it next time. Stop monitoring if it changes as it'll make the anxiety worse and you'll "think" it's sounding louder when it's not changed at all.

 

I "measure" it by how it sounds "in the air", and if I can hear it over my white noise machine more easily, etc. If I'm relaxed, I won't hear it in the shower, but if I focus... it's like I THINK I can but can't tell? That sort of thing.