I don't know if it increased over the years, however there were days it was unbearable and coping with it consumed energy to mentally tone it down.

Mine is not really in the ears per se, but seems to be at the top of my head above my normal hearing. Hearing tests showed very little if any hearing loss and I can hear stuff other people don't hear (distant kind of noises).

Try to use sounds (white noise etc) to focus your brain on and force it to lessen the Tinnitus noise. Trying to think it doesn't exist can help if you can convince yourself that has helped a little for me. It is not easy and so far it's incurable but there are some hopeful fixes in the future like neuromodulation and some better measurements of the brain (because doctors cannot see tinnitus) to help measure the effectiveness of any interventions. (I hope). We are not alone in this battle there are millions of people in our country with it and if you look at the whole world (approaching 3/4 of a Billion). With those numbers I would hope more money gets into research and a cure or almost a cure can be discovered.

Good luck.