What to Do When Your Ears Won't Pop

When your ears are blocked, there are several ways to help them pop, such as swallowing, yawning, sucking on hard candy, or chewing gum. Remedies like these are generally safe if your ears get blocked while at a high altitude or flying in an airplane.

An over-the-counter (OTC) decongestant or a warm compress can help equalize pressure in the middle ear. When these remedies fail to provide relief, you may need to see a healthcare provider to diagnose the cause of the congestion in your middle ear.

This article discusses why your ears may feel plugged and the best ways to pop your ears fast. It also explains some of the conditions that can make it hard to pop your ears.

What Causes the Feeling of Plugged Ears?

If your ears won't pop, it is because something is interfering with the systems that equalize pressure on both sides of your eardrum.

The problem is centered on the Eustachian tubes which connect the middle ear to the back of your nose and the upper part of your throat. The role of the Eustachian tubes is to equalize pressure by adjusting the volume of air inside the middle ear.

When the pressure changes between your middle and outer ear, it can feel as if your ear is suddenly clogged. This can happen with sudden changes in atmospheric pressure, such as with scuba diving, flying in an airplane, or even driving up or down a steep mountain.

If the pressure is really unequal, it might even cause ear pain. This can lead to a condition called middle ear barotrauma in which the unrelenting pressure can damage and even rupture the eardrum.

Popping your ears is a way to force a change in air pressure.

Effective Ways to Pop Your Ears

Any medical condition that affects your Eustachian tubes can prevent you from being able to pop your ears.

There are several things you may help. Start by taking things in steps.

Step 1

If the congestion is mild, you can often use simple maneuvers to quickly alter the pressure in your middle ear, such as:

• Swallowing
• Yawning
• Chewing gum
• Sucking on hard candy

Similar methods can be used on children. If traveling with an infant or toddler, try giving them a bottle, pacifier, or something to drink or suck on.

Step 2

If these methods alone don't help, you can try other interventions like:

• Decongestants: OTC drugs like Afrin (oxymetazoline) or Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) work by reducing the swelling of blood vessels in the nasal passages and Eustachian tubes.
• Warm compress: Applying a warm, moist cloth to the back of your ear can help reduce swelling and help drain congested passages.

In some cases, these interventions will cause the ears will pop without trying. If they don't, give it 20 minutes and see if swallowing, yawning, chewing gum, or sucking on hard candy helps.

Decongestants should not be used in children under two years of age.

Step 3

If these interventions don't help, there are three other strategies you can try called the Valsalva maneuver, the Toynbee maneuver, and the Frenzel maneuver.

To do the Valsalva maneuver:

1. Inhale.
2. Pinch your nose shut with your fingers.
3. Keeping your lips tightly shut, blow out forcefully as if you are blowing up a balloon.
4. To increase the pressure, try bearing down as if having a bowel movement.

To do the Toynbee maneuver:

1. Keep your mouth tightly shut.
2. Pinch your nose shut with your fingers.
3. Swallow hard.

The Toynbee maneuver may also be safer than the Valsalva maneuver if you've had a previous eardrum injury. The Valsalva method exerts much more pressure on the eardrum and can possibly cause a rupture if you blow too forcefully.

To do the Frenzel maneuver:

1. Pinch your nose shut with your fingers,
2. Close your mouth and place the tip of your tongue behind your upper front teeth.
3. Push the back of your tongue to the roof of your mouth as if making a hard "G" or "K" sound. The back of your tongue will touch the roof.
4. While doing this, close your vocal folds at the back of your throat and lift your larynx (voice box) up to push the air out of your mouth and into your nose.

This is a more complicated technique used by scuba divers and free divers to equalize pressure in the middle ear as they descend.

Why Your Ears Won't Pop

There are many conditions that affect the Eustachian tubes directly or indirectly. Some cause congestion (the swelling and narrowing of a passage) while others cause compression (exerting external pressure that causes the passage to collapse).

Nasal Congestion

If your ears won't pop and you've had a cold recently, you may have mucus in your ears. Too much mucus can make it hard to maintain pressure in the middle ear.

If you have allergies, taking a decongestant before boarding a flight can often help. Cold viruses also cause congestion and may also benefit from a decongestant.

Middle Ear Infection

If your ears won't pop, it may be because you have fluid in your ears. Thickened fluid can block the Eustachian tube and prevents the fluid from draining into the back of the throat. This often happens with a middle ear infection (otitis media).

When a middle ear infection is accompanied by the build-up of fluid, it is referred to as serous otitis media (a.k.a. otitis media with effusion or "glue ear"). Children are more commonly affected because their Eustachian tubes are shorter, narrower, and more likely to trap fluids.

Frequent bouts of serous otitis media can be treated with the surgical insertion of ear tubes (tympanostomy tubes) into the eardrum (tympanic membrane). These let the ear drain and equalize pressure.

Enlarged Adenoids

The adenoids are tissues located high in your throat that are part of your body's lymphatic system. When they become enlarged, they can block the Eustachian tubes and cause fluid to get trapped in the middle ear. This can also happen when the tissues in your nasal passages become swollen.

If your Eustachian tube is chronically blocked by an enlarged adenoid, the tissues may need to be removed with a surgery known as an adenoidectomy.

Excessive Earwax

Ears that won't pop can also be caused by a buildup of earwax (cerumen). Too much earwax can also impair the function of the Eustachian tube.

There are several ways that your healthcare provider can remove earwax. This includes special ear drops that dissolve the wax. The wax can also be flushed out with water. The healthcare provider may also use a special instrument called a cerumen spoon to manually remove the wax.

Patulous Eustachian Tube

Sometimes, having ears that won't pop is a sign that something is wrong with your Eustachian tubes. One example is a rare disorder called patulous Eustachian tubes in which the tubes always remain open.

Symptoms include:

• The sensation of plugged ears
• A ringing sound in the ear (tinnitus)
• Hearing your own voice extra loudly (autophony)
• Hearing your own breathing

Patulous Eustachian tubes can sometimes be managed with nasal sprays (including saline, antihistamine, decongestant, and steroid nasal sprays). It is also important to drink plenty of water and use a humidifier at night to keep the Eustachian tubes moist and prevent irritation.

Other options include ear tubes and/or the narrowing of the Eustachian tubes with electrocautery (heat) or injected fillers. 

Other Causes

Other causes of Eustachian tube dysfunction include:

• Sinusitis: The inflammation and infection of your nasal passages
• Nasal polyps: Benign (non-cancerous) growths in your nasal passages
• Enlarged turbinates: The overgrowth of structures in your nose that warm and humidify the air you breathe in
• Tonsillitis: The inflammation of the tonsils

An ENT specialist is trained to manage and treat all of these conditions either with medications, therapies, or surgery when needed.

When to See a Healthcare Provider

If you can't get your ears to pop after a day or two, or your symptoms worsen, it may be because you have a sinus or ear infection.

Call your healthcare provider if your experience the following signs and symptoms: 

• Severe headache or facial pain
• Muffled hearing and pain in the affected ear
• Pain and congestion that worsens after improving 
• Fever that lasts longer than 72 hours

Summary

The sensation of clogged ears happens when your body can't equalize the pressure in your ears because your Eustachian tubes are blocked. Some of the best ways to pop your ears are yawning, swallowing, or chewing. Taking decongestants or using a warm compress can also help.

There are a number of conditions that can cause clogged ears, including middle ear infections, excessive earwax, and nasal congestion. Some conditions like enlarged adenoids, serous otitis media, and patulous Eustachian tubes may require specialist treatments or surgery.