How to Flap Your Ears Safely
Whether you’ve been driving down a winding mountain road, riding a skyscraper’s high-speed elevator, or flying an airplane, you’ve probably experienced a feeling of pressure in your ears that you wish you could get rid of immediately. Sometimes the situation resolves itself. But other times, you need to do something if you want your ears to pop. Here’s why it happens and what you can do about it.
What causes pressure in the ears?
You can have pressure in your ears for a variety of reasons, says Dr. Matthew Goldman , a physician at the Cleveland Clinic . These can range from allergies and sinus infections to swimmer’s ear and ear infections. But the reason we’ll be focusing on here is the changes in barometric pressure caused by rapid climb or loss of altitude—for example, during takeoff or landing on an airplane, or while diving.
This feeling that your ears are blocked and as if they should pop is because when the air pressure around you changes, the air pressure in your inner ears tries to adjust with it, but it can’t always keep up.
This all takes place in the Eustachian tubes, which run between the area behind the eardrum and the back of the nose and throat in each ear, that is, the area outside the eardrum. “This tube helps keep the air pressure [in the ear] balanced,” explains Goldman .
How to safely plug your ears
As tempting as it may be to stick a finger, cotton swab, or whatever into your ear to relieve pressure, it’s never a good idea. Instead, try one of these doctor-approved methods :
- Swallowing : In most cases, intentional swallowing causes popping in the ears because it opens the Eustachian tubes, which are normally closed to relieve pressure. Chewing gum or sucking on a lollipop helps some people because it encourages them to swallow more than usual.
- Yawning : Like swallowing, yawning also opens up your Eustachian tubes and can cause your ears to pop.
- Valsalva maneuver : Close your mouth tightly and pinch your nostrils, then exhale sharply. The main thing is not to allow air to escape through the mouth or nose.
- Toynbee maneuver : Close your mouth, pinch your nostrils, then swallow.
If these methods don’t work and your ears remain blocked, or if you experience additional symptoms such as pain, discharge, dizziness, hearing loss, or ringing, Goldman recommends seeing a doctor.