My way of dealing with tinnitus is to always have sound going on (music, TV etc..), that way it's not as annoying. As for my hearing loss; I knew my family is predispose to deafness so from an early age I started practicing reading lips and while I'm just hard of hearing right now it has really help me to stay in conversations in very noisy situations like bars and restaurants.
Just wanted to give you all some ideas that may help.

i play(ed) music. or played at it, drums and guitar.

when mine first hit me i would be out and hear music playing and have to ask if the person siging was in key or not. i new they had to be or they would not be on the radio, but pitches were so far off.
it HAS gotten better with time. i do have to regualate the noise in the ear or the tinnitus does get louder. one other thing is food. seems like when i eat it kick up a little.

put the good ear in the pillow, you will get use to it. then other sounds dont wake you up.
i can sleep thru th alarm if my good ear is in the pillow.


here is what i did whe i tried a hearing aide.
my wife was on my bad side. i plugged my good ear and had her talk. then i put in the aide and repeated. it was no better so i did not get one.

i lost highs according to hearing tests.

right now i almost dont hear the ringing. it did use to be worse if that is any encouragement.....you will get use to it.

Don't know about hearing aids, but have experienced the ear pain and disorientation after flying before, luckily mine resolved itself after about 24 hours.

If anyone else experiences this, my doctor recommended that I take any sinus med with Pseudoephedrine, like sudafed, about an hour before landing. Taking that completely eliminated any ear pain during descent. I won't ever fly again without that stuff.