Dulled Hearing, Louder Tinnitus, Ear Feeling Plugged Up, and Drainage in the Morning

About 2.5 weeks ago I went to urgent care after my ear feeling plugged for a couple weeks and noticing excess, runny wax. They told me I had swimmer’s ear and gave me Ciprodex drops. I went back three days later to get it rechecked, and they told me I had a perforated eardrum, to discontinue the drops, and prescribed oral antibiotics (I can’t remember which type). A couple days later I saw my primary doctor. He didn’t like the antibiotics I was prescribed and switched me to Augmentin. My primary Dr. got me a stat referral to see an ENT, and was able to see him within a few days. The ENT told me the infection had cleared, that my ear was dry, and that my eardrum should (hopefully) heal on its own. I described to him my symptoms: dulled hearing, louder tinnitus, ear feeling plugged up, and drainage in the morning. He told me my symptoms did not make sense and didn’t know why I was experiencing them since I’ve had tubes in my ears several times and a perforation that took several months to heal, but my ears had felt completely normal and I had no symptoms. His recommendation was to wait for my eardrum to heal on its own. If it gets worse or if I decide, I can go back to him to have the fat patch procedure done to close the hole. I saw my primary Dr. again. He took a bacterial culture, prescribed Zyrtec and Flonase, and told me to come back in a week (tomorrow) if my symptoms do not improve. The bacterial culture came back negative – looks like the infection has healed.

I’ve had tinnitus for about seven years, and I’ve been fortunate to have found hearing aids with tinnitus maskers that completely cover up the tinnitus. This is the first time in five years that it seems like my tinnitus has increased (in my left ear) and that I can hear it over the masker. I’m really scared that my tinnitus has increased (along with the other symptoms). It doesn’t make sense since I’ve had ear tubes and a leftover perforation from and ear tube in the past and my ears felt completely normal. I’m thinking my eardrum became perforated either from blowing my nose too hard or from the infection I had, but the ENT said it’s a “clean cut” and it’s not too large. Why do you guys think I’m experiencing these symptoms? Do you think they’ll go away after my eardrum heals? Could I be experiencing the symptoms because there’s a difference in the way an eardrum reacts to having a Dr. insert tubes with a blade compared to it being forcefully perforated?

Thank you in advance!