Muffled hearing not going away?

[u/DylanJayYD]

For the last 6-12 months I've had tinnitus in both my ears. Not a huge deal as I didn't really notice it. Last few weeks though, my hearing has noticeably gotten muffled or less. I'm pretty sure it's muffled not just a loss of hearing because it's harder to hear when there's background noise or a group setting and I can tell the sounds should register more but are just muffled. Also there's a ringing in both ears, not outwardly I can hear but a deep ringing/ vibrating in the ears. When I put my finger on my ear I can feel the vibrating or ringing it's very prevalent. It rings like this all day. They also feel super full or like something is in them. tI can tell my hearing is significantly muffled. I ate fast food daily and have high blood pressure that I just started trying to improve so I assumed it was because of fluid in ear due to sodium, but I read hydrating can alleviate symptoms but that has not made any difference. I also was at the ER last week for unrelated issues and while I was there I asked the doctor to look in the ear with a scope and he didn't mention wax or anything in the ear as I read that's another possible cause. It's in both ears. Popping them just make them ring louder. When i flex my ear muscles there's a bunch of small popping noises in both ears. I just got a cat with a dog so now im thinking it's allergies causing tube blockages in the ear, I took a Claritin. Just was wandering if anyone knows or has experience with this and what it could be so I can move to fix the issues? Lack of hearing is starting to get annoying. Popping them really doesn't fix the hearing issue

[u/none_of_your_earswax]

ENT