If your ears often feel like they need to be popped, you might have an underlying health condition called Eustachian tube dysfunction. This happens because your tubes can't equalize pressure well. It can make your ears feel full constantly.
Internal causes, such as congestion, can induce a buildup of air or fluid in the eustachian tube in the ear. This buildup creates a feeling of pressure in the ears. The blockage to the eustachian tube may come from: earwax.
If your ears are plugged, try swallowing, yawning or chewing sugar-free gum to open your eustachian tubes. If this doesn't work, take a deep breath and try to blow out of your nose gently while pinching your nostrils closed and keeping your mouth shut. If you hear a popping noise, you know you have succeeded.
Clogged ears can also result from swollen or blocked eustachian tubes, which connect the middle ear to the back of the throat. This can happen for brief periods during air travel, but also due to allergies, sinus or ear infections, or other respiratory viruses (including COVID-19).
Clogged ears from a mild ear infection usually last one or two weeks. If the problems are in the inner ear, this could last longer.
But a clogged ear is typically temporary, and your ear will likely clear on its own within a few hours or days depending on the cause: Fluid: If your ears are clogged by water or another fluid, they will often clear quickly. Air pressure: If the blockage is caused by air pressure, it may take a few days to go away.
Ear pressure is typically not a serious condition, although it has some serious causes such as acoustic neuroma. It may be treated with simple actions such as yawning and swallowing.
Common causes include fluid in the middle ear, hay fever, allergies or over-excessive nose blowing. Ear pain can be associated with ear congestion in cases of infections or with airplane travel, with sudden changes in barometric pressure, which most often occurs during descent.
Try forcing a yawn several times until the ears pop open. Swallowing helps to activate the muscles that open the eustachian tube. Sipping water or sucking on hard candy can help to increase the need to swallow. If yawning and swallowing do not work, take a deep breath and pinch the nose shut.
And usually they're not a cause for concern. Allergies, head colds, pregnancy, and air pressure are some common reasons it may feel like your ears are full. Typically, plugged ears settle after a few days. Decongestants and nasal sprays are the best treatment for plugged ears that allergies and head colds cause.
The second way that popping your ears can be unsafe is that you run the risk of blowing out your eardrums. Holding yuru nose and blowing out is the common method of popping your ears, but too much pressure can blow out the eardrum.
Close your mouth, hold your nose, and gently blow as if you are blowing your nose. Yawning and chewing gum also may help. You may hear or feel a "pop" when the tubes open to make the pressure equal between the inside and outside of your ears.
Eustachian tube massage
Using firm, steady pressure, slide your finger down until you feel a groove between your ear lobe and jaw. Trace that groove all the way down your neck to your collarbone using the same firm pressure. Repeat this process three times on each side, three times a day.
With firm, steady pressure slide your finger down until it slips into a groove between the ear lobe and the jaw. Follow that groove down the neck with your finger, sliding down (with same steady pressure) until you reach the collar bone. Repeat three to four times per side, about three times a day.
Mucus or pus can build up behind the eardrum, causing pressure and pain. In general, COVID-19 has not been associated with ear infections, and generally these types of infections do not share a great deal of common symptoms.
Causes of ear congestion can include earwax compaction, changes in altitude, infections, and allergies. While some causes of ear congestion do not require medical intervention, people should contact a doctor if their symptoms persist or if they experience symptoms of a severe ear infection, such as: fever.
If you or your child has severe ear pain, bleeding ears, dizziness, or hearing loss, go to the closest emergency room for medical help. These are signs of a serious medical condition, especially after a blow to the head, fall or other accident.
Sinus or ear infections, allergies and other respiratory viruses — all of which can cause swelling and fluid in the ear — are common causes of Eustachian tube dysfunction.
Sleep position
Rest with your head on two or more pillows, so your affected ear is higher than the rest of your body. Or if your left ear has an infection, sleep on your right side. Less pressure equals less ear pain. It could be effective, though a few inches may not make a big difference in pressure measurement.
a ringing or buzzing sound in your ear (tinnitus) earache or ear pain. itching in your ear. clear fluid, blood or pus leaking from your ear.
Pop Your Ears
Popping your ears can help open the eustachian tube, allowing fluid to drain. The simplest way to pop your ears is to yawn, chew, or swallow.