Can Ear Infections Make Tinnitus Worse?

Hi everybody, this is my first post, although I've been hanging out in this forum a lot in the last two months.

I first noticed my t about 2 months ago. I'm a music producer, so this scared me inmensly... I'd also assume that the cause of my t was exposure to loud music, playing with rock bands every week for years, and working as a sound guy on occasion.
Add to this the fact that I also have a mild hearing loss on 6kHz and I was panicking, I though that this will ruin all my future work. But weeks passed and I realised that the quality of my mixes did not declined, so I was really happy and I thought to myself "If I can keep the T at this level I'll be okay, I just need to take very good care of my ears"
My T disappeared every time I went out on the street, listen to music, played an instrument, were in a restaurant or even was in a room with more then 3 or 4 people talking. The only real enemy was silence, and good for me, I've never liked silence. I usually fall sleep listening to some podcast or with the sound of some youtube video, so the T wasn't a problem even when I try to fall sleep.

BUT... about two weeks ago I woke up with my left ear blocked by wax, so I visit the doctor that very same day, she removed the blockage but midway into it, the sicking machine stopped working, so she tried removing the wax with a tool similar to a hook/spoon. That thing REALLY hurted and she immediately stopped using it. We moved to another room, she used the sucking machine there and the blockage was gone in a matter of seconds. Three days later I developed an external ear infection... sadly, I'm very familiar with these because for some reason I got these regularly (about once a year)

My T got a LOT worst in that ear, but that's normal, being that the ear canal is inflated and it's basically blocking most sound. Went to the doctor, started taking Cefalexin (anitbiotic), Diclofenac (to reduce inflammation) and ear drops that contained Dexamethasone and Ciprofloxacin. Very tipical meds for ear infections in my experience.
A week has passed, today I finished my antibiotics, and I feel a lot better (no more pain) but the T on that ear is still louder than it was before. I still feel the ear canal a little bit inflamed (i can tell because I hear myself a lot more on that ear than the other when I talk, and I still do not hear quite the same, everything is a bit more bassier on that ear).

This tremendously long post was all to ask this question: I'ts been a week since I started taking the meds, and I thats what the doctor told me I should take. But my T is still louder than before. So can an external ear infection make my T permanently worse? Should I wait to totally recover from the infection? Should I keep taking antibiotics, although the doctor told me to take them just for a week?

I'm freaking out about this, and as we all know that only makes all of this worse..,

Sorry for the long post, and thanks for all the help you've already gave me dealing with my t

 

Yes, an ear infection can cause temporary tinnitus. The antibiotics your doctor prescribed are enough to cover the infection. Your job is to support your immune system by getting a lot of rest, eating healthy, and taking some multivitamins.

 

I went to my GP to check for wax the other week, she said no wax but my ear was a bit red. I had been putting my finger in there to check for wax (not advisable i know!). Anyway, she did prescribe some otomize ear spray which has anti biotic in it. I never had any pain or anything so if i didn't go i wouldn't even know about this "red ear". Anyway i didn't bother with the spray as i have heard horror stories about them on here.

 

after 20 years of basically habituation an ear infection which took 3 lots of anti biotics to sort out has really ramped up the T to intolerable levels thats nearly 6 years ago...sorry but fact

 

Ear infections cause tinnitus. Hearing loss causes tinnitus - but only sometimes. Normal jaw clenching causes tinnitus. Excess mucus causes tinnitus. One singular loud noise causes tinnitus. Over-protecting your ears causes tinnitus. Under-protecting your ears causes tinnitus. Some benign, commonly used drugs instantly permanently cause tinnitus. You can live in a soundproof box for your whole life, and then suddenly wake up one day with tinnitus, for no reason.

But only in <1% of the population gets permanent T - us. No one else suffers.

 

What antibiotics were they? If you had an infection in future would you take the antibiotics or let it clear on its own?

 

Hello Sam it wasnt the antis that made the T worse by the way,yes absoloutely ear infections are dangerous id take non ototoxic ones again like augmentin,,good Luck