I'm Just Trying to Prevent Tinnitus from Worsening

Hello! My name is Obaid and I think I've technically had tinnitus since an awful ear infection when I was 16. I'm 21 now, for reference. Now, let me fully explain. I'm looking for two things, 1) answers as to why I might only notice the tinnitus 5 years on and 2) how I can prevent it from getting worse. I would LOVE some of you guys to respond to this and help me understand where the holes in my knowledge are, if they're explainable that is. I guess I should start from when I was 16:

I got an AWFUL ear infection when I was 16, to the point that I had spells of vertigo and dizziness. Now, I've heard about Meniere's disease but the problem is I went to the ENT in my city back then to try and solve it and after a year of treatments I stopped having the vertigo. It reappeared the next year in the winter but only very VERY occasionally. I have not had a vertigo spell since I was 18. And the weirdest thing? I never noticed my tinnitus at the time. Again, I didn't notice it until last month or so. Looking back, I remember that I would hear it before sleeping but think absolutely nothing of it. I'm so thankful I have a tinnitus that mild...really.

Fastforward to last month. I didn't go to any loud things in the last year, I swear, but one week I just sort of noticed the tinnitus more. At first, it was a lower ringing sound in my left ear and a MUCH higher one in both ears. Now, it's those same frequencies (basically) but loud enough not to get masked by my fan alone, which I'm sure masked the sound for YEARS without me knowing (it's on all the time). For context, I feel like at first it was totally negligible. I feel as if it was getting better for a while, and then it spiked again a few weeks ago. Yet again, a few days ago it went down to that "normal" level I first heard 2 months back, the one that still gets masked by my fan. But now that I have a cold, it's louder than ever, prompting me thus to come register to this forum (I've been reading threads here for about a month now, actually). I should add that I recently went to the ENT and got nasal sprays for Ipratropium Bromide and Flonase. I also got shown that I have no hearing loss (and I swear to you I have no "hidden" hearing loss either. I think my hearing is as good as ever honestly), however I interestingly can't hear above 13.5 kHz, where most my age can hear up to 16 kHz. I don't know if this really matters or not, but it seems weird. I also don't know if this is a limitation of my headphones or speakers, but regardless I'm guessing it's not.

My question to you is, what do you think is the cause of this? Eustachian tube dysfunction, etc?
Is this cold going to make it to this volume permanently? What kind of medication or techniques might help prevent permanent amplification of the tinnitus?
Aside from the cold, and after it, does Tinnitus get worse? If so, how quickly?
Most importantly, why would I have randomly noticed it recently, and is it possible that being aware of it has made it seem louder, and it was always at this level?

My most important goal is preventing the tinnitus to get louder than it is, because as it is EVEN WITH this cold I live life normally and only notice it in my room or in quiet situations. It doesn't affect talking with people alone in quiet rooms either, thank God. I just...don't want it to BECOME worse when I "could have prevented it" (in a hypothetical few years where the tinnitus gets worse). I actually got SUPER anxious about this stuff a few weeks back, where it became something I was looking up stuff about every day, but eventually I read all the posts here that insisted one should just focus on living their life, and I agree. I've been through depression and dropped out of a top 30 US University for a plethora of reasons a couple of years back. I'm better now, but point is...I think I can handle a bit of noise. It could be much worse...

 

Did you use the Ipratropium Bromide? My doctor sent me the same.

 

Probably the main reason is the cold you have at moment. Your immune system is low and so your brains ability to ignore the T is not the same as it normally is. There is not a lot you can do other than try to prevent getting ill, which you might think is not in your hands but i tend to believe that if you look after yourself by exercising, eating fruit and veg regular etc that you can beat most common viruses. Iv not been ill in years since i started running regular and drinking fruit smoothies. Everyone else gets ill around me and where as before id fall victim i seem to be able to fend it off no problem now. (touch wood)