What you have is tinnitus which is not exactly the same as hearing loss. There are lots of different reasons for tinnitus and that aren’t all well understood. I first started getting it when I was 20 and went through all the same anxiety driven concerns you have. But now I don’t even get it that often and when I do, I don’t really notice it that much. For me I find it’s actually associated with neck and shoulder pain / stiffness. I’m a software developer and spend long hours on my computer with not particularly great posture. This tends to exacerbate tinnitus for me sometimes. I found regular chiropractic and remedial message tended to reduce tinnitus for me, although everyone is different. Other causes of tinnitus are stress, trauma to the ear drum, and certain medications to name a few.
