My understanding is that if a hearing aid as an amplification device helps with tinnitus, it usually happens very quickly, sometimes almost instantly. If you are using them for masking or sound therapy, then as long as it is not making things worse, it can sometimes take weeks to months before you notice a benefit. If you are using them simply to hear, then they serve that purpose.
In my own experience, many audiologists do not have an insightful strategy for how to use sound therapy when your tinnitus is unmaskable. I have found that sounds very different from my internal noise are the most useful. That being said, I have ultimately found hearing aids to be unhelpful for tinnitus, other than being really cool invisible Bluetooth earbuds.
Big picture, I think the advice that should be given in the early days of tinnitus is to seek medical care, as there is sometimes a physical cause that can be addressed. It sounds like you have done that, and sadly in many cases there is not much that can be done to stop the ringing. When there is no medical answer, then you are relying on natural healing and habituation as the focus of recovery. In this case, the critical intervention is self-care.
The one thing that can make matters worse is when the brain circuitry ties itself too closely around the sound in your head. Many people unnecessarily suffer in a reinforcing cycle of focus and stress, which can lead to both worsening symptoms and a longer road to habituation—the state where your mind stops being aware of or concerned about the sound.
So if there is nothing else for you to follow up on medically, what you can do now is focus your care on your body and your mind.
My advice includes the use of medications, which have their own issues that you must educate yourself on before starting. But overall, you should focus your care on:
Sleep. Do it naturally, with supplements, or with prescription medication, but get your sleep right. This increases resilience and neuroplasticity. It makes everything feel a bit less overwhelming and is an important part of healing.
Anxiety. Manage it naturally, with supplements, meditation, breathing, prescription medication, hot tubs, massage, yoga, or acupuncture. Whatever works for you, find a way to calm your limbic system. Calming the limbic system can decrease the cycle of involuntary feedback in the autonomic nervous system. The challenge is to break the cycle of your body constantly reacting to the sound. In a best-case scenario, once this cycle is broken, you begin to forget you even have tinnitus, much like how you forget the feeling of clothes on your skin.
Hyperacusis. This is a balancing act. On one hand, you need to protect yourself from painful sounds. On the other hand, too much protection can make things worse. Short-term use of ear protection is very reasonable, but long-term use increases your sensitivity to sound. I suggest short-term noise avoidance after acute injury, but long-term you should focus on controlled exposure and desensitization. A good audiologist can be very helpful with this.
I hope this is helpful.
