I used in ear "canal" earphones for ages, and used to get weird things going on with my ears due to wax getting pushed down my ear canal and building up.
Have also woken up deaf in one ear having squashed a wax plug against my eardrum. Was pretty alarming, but bit of olive oil sorted it and cleaned it out.
Would check in with the docs, sounds like could be a combo of a problem then maybe some waxy trauma as well. Chuck in a cold and your ears don't stand a chance....
Proper custom moulded earplugs should cost 150 maximum. Pain in the arse losing them, but better than going deaf.