Sometimes I even tell myself that I'd rather be dealing with this than dealing with a potentially forever loss of smell and taste due to "long Covid". And certainly much better than some chronic/progressive and disabling disease.

I did get it all checked out by an ENT. Hearing test revealed some minor hearing loss for a particular tone, but nothing that affects my ability to hear conversations and so on. Right ear has the ringing and left ear just feels full/pressurized all the time, like when you ascend higher elevation. Valsalva Maneuver attempts don't really do anything to resolve it either. Just occasionally provides momentary relief. Doc insists I have no eustachian tube dysfunction. Just says it's a sensation that can be felt as a result of the other ear having the ringing and the limited hearing loss. And I'm only in my early 40's.

So yeah...it definitely gets frustrating and is difficult at times coming to grips with the fact that this is likely to be something that will be with me the rest of my life and there really aren't any effective treatments out there for it. I never have had my ears involved with any prior colds and other URI's I've had over the years. So it was really weird to have my ears all stuffed up and experience an earache the way I did last spring with other cold symptoms I was having. I assume the same is true for you.

For me, it's really only loud when I get in my car or get away into a quiet spot after being in a louder environment that had lots more ambient noise to drown it out. Eventually my mind kind of adjusts back to it and fortunately it hasn't made it any more difficult to fall asleep. When I'm tired enough, my exhaustion is usually enough to overpower the noise and allow me sleep. I hope the same can be true for you and that you'll be able to adapt to it and ignore it where possible. It definitely helps to stay engaged with other things that can occupy your focus and attention more than just sitting there in a quiet space focusing on the ringing. If it is bad enough though, I think they can offer you some hearing aids that can provide some other background noise or something to help offset the ringing.