Was My Tinnitus Caused by a Mouth Infection or Doing Music?

Hello, wonderful human beings!
I am so glad that this opportunity is here. I will share my story:

I am currently 20 years old and doing the music stuff. Around the 20th of January, I turned around in bed: "what is this noise? Is it coming from outside?". But it wasn't.

I have this slightly pulsating sound. Actually, there are two sounds at the same time. One around 860 Hz and the other around 1000 Hz. The highest pitch is always lower in volume, and sometimes it's not even there. However, this sound is ONLY present in my right ear. The other ear is fine.

I have come to the conclusion that there could be several causes. A couple of weeks before all of this began, I had pretty bad infection in the back of the right side of my mouth. Could this have transmitted to the ear?

The other possible cause is obviously music. I do music a lot. This particular week around the 20th of January I was working quite a lot, but the volume was never super loud. This is what I find strange.

However, for the following weeks I made sure to keep things quiet and used protection whenever possible. Actually, after about 5 weeks, it got a little more quiet. Now there would be only one pitch, and it would be slightly lower in volume.

But a couple of days ago, I had the most stupid accident. I was installing a couple of speakers, and suddenly they blasted loud volume for about 4-5 seconds. I guess it was about 110-120 dB. Luckily, I was wearing protection (-15 dB) on the right ear, so it obviously was loud - but not intensely loud...
But now it was back just where I started... Both the pitches, pulsating.

It is worth mentioning that I am very sensitive to loud noise in the right ear. I was unpacking a plastic package, and the rapid noises felt like someone was punching my eardrum. Only the right ear. This sensation of painful pressure was interesting to me. It is also worth mentioning that I have a feeling that there is some unresolved pressure in the right ear. Like some fluid or air pressure that is pushing. I don't know... It is mainly high frequencies that are the most painful.

I visited the doctor a couple of days ago, and she told me that there was some earwax blocking the right ear. She told me she got it away by flushing water inside the ear. And actually, I did not hear the tinnitus for about an an hour, but then it was back again... Strange.

I had something similar a couple of years ago. Then in both ears. Then I had been to a pretty loud concert, but I also had ear infection (I figured that out later).

My ears are my dearest tools because I am doing music, and this is really eating me from the inside
Any thoughts? Can I expect to recover, and should I keep away from loud noises in the meantime?

 

It may be a combination of factors. You definitely did have a noise trauma from the looks of it, but many people do recover from those to a great degree. I think your best bet is to be very careful with your ears for a while. Give them proper rest and protect them from loud noises, but don't overprotect as that might, ultimately, make your sound sensitivity worse.

Listen to your ears! And give it some time. Hope it all turns out fine for you.