DON’T do headphones in bed to compensate! it’s not the volume, it’s the exposure!
i’ve got bad tinnitus that i made worse with sleepytime audio over a few years. started just playing shit from my phone speaker instead and it stopped progressing entirely, now i’m just at an uncomfortable plateau lmao
day to day stuff is harder to give advice for. i only noticed in the past few years that i’m almost constantly “listening to music” in my head. i reckon that’s probably a coping strategy.
ways to prevent it getting worse are the stupid stuff you’ve already heard: avoid loud noises, be mindful of music volume, etc. BUT one minor thing that you might not consider: go for on/over ear headphones rather than in-ear buds, ESPECIALLY for extended listening. also consider open back sets, if your setup allows it. the perfect seal that earbuds achieve makes for more stress on those tiny sound-detecting hairs you got, even at lower relative volumes!
big thing to remember is once the damage is there, it’s easier to make worse, so you gotta be proactive. lucky thing is it’s actually really easy to be proactive! i’m a concert-guy myself, and i’ve managed to prevent my shit from getting worse while still regularly attending concerts! acoustically tuned earbuds are super fucking great and totally not a gimmack. i use those loop ones, but anything with positive reviews will probably serve you fine.
good luck comrade
modern airpods might be better for it, but seriously watch out for your condition getting worse. i used earbuds to sleep for a number of years and my tinnitus kept getting worse until i started using a speaker instead.
maybe it’s different per person, but it’s advice i give anyone with tinnitus now just in case hahah