Blocked ears can be uncomfortable, and unblocking them requires determining the cause of the blockages.
Unfortunately, there are quite a number of reasons that can make your ears feel clogged or blocked, ranging from common reasons like excess earwax to more complex ones. In some instances, the feeling of fullness can be the beginning of other more serious symptoms, and without the right treatment, the results could be catastrophic for your hearing.
You can try some simple tricks, such as chewing or swallowing, to unblock your ears. If these don't work, you might be looking at something more serious.
Reasons for Blocked Ears
Having blocked ears can be uncomfortable, especially when it goes on for the day. There are several reasons you may experience this sensation, including the following:
- Pressure changes
- Ear infections
- Noise damage
- Hearing loss
- Eustachian tube dysfunction
- Fluid in the ear
- Cholesteatoma
- Earwax
- Foreign objects
- Swimmer’s ear
Changes in Altitude or Atmospheric Pressure
Changes in atmospheric pressure or altitude can cause your ears to clog or pop. In extreme cases, it can also injure the eardrums and other structures of the ear.
It is common to experience clogging or blocking in the ears when driving up a steep mountain, taking off in an airplane, swimming, or SCUBA diving. This effect is called barotrauma. The change in pressure or altitude change can be uncomfortable and can reduce hearing.
Treatment For Blocks Ears
The best way to address an ear blockage due to barotrauma is to swallow, chew gum, or yawn frequently. This helps to open the eustachian tube and let outside air into the ear to equalise the pressure.
Suppose you have allergies or have trouble unclogging your ears during altitude changes. In that case, you should consider taking your allergy medication or a decongestant head-to-head to make it easier to unblock the ears.
Eustachian Tube Dysfunction
Eustachian tube dysfunction is an umbrella term for many things that can make your ears feel clogged. There are several possible causes for this condition, including:
- Excess mucus: This happens because of allergies or upper respiratory illnesses such as the cold or flu.
- Inflammation: It usually results from an infection of the sinus passage, commonly referred to as sinusitis.
- Damage to the ear’s natural cleaning system: This is a common condition among individuals who smoke cigarettes.
- Fatty deposits around the Eustachian tubes due to obesity can also contribute to Eustachian tube dysfunction, leading to a feeling of blockage in the ears.
Excess mucus, inflammation, and infection are common among children, while other conditions are more common among adults. Suppose your ear blockage is caused by any of these factors. In that case, you may experience additional symptoms such as runny and stuffy nose, facial pressure or pain, sore throat, cough, sneezing, sinus headache, and bad breath, among others.
Treatment
There are several ways to handle ear blockages caused by eustachian tube dysfunction, all of which involve addressing the underlying issue. To lower inflammation, you can take over-the-counter or prescription medications, cold and flu medications, antihistamines, and steroid nasal sprays.
Infections and some sinus infections may require antibiotics, which must be prescribed by a healthcare provider.
Ear Infections
Ear infections are mainly like sinus infections. Sometimes, they can go away on their own, and sometimes, they may need antibiotics for treatment. Many infections may cause your ears to block or feel full because of inflammation.
Ear infections are mainly caused by viruses, which don't require antibiotics, but if bacteria cause them, you may need antibiotics.
Infections associated with upper respiratory conditions typically cause your ears to develop as one of the symptoms.
Some of the symptoms associated with ear infections include fever, difficulty sleeping, and ear pain. Children may also exhibit fussiness and rubbing or tugging at the ear.
Treatment
Many ear infections go away on their own. However, some home remedies can help ease the discomfort of the infection, such as using a cold or hot compress over the ear. You can also consider using over-the-counter pain relievers or a few drops of hydrogen peroxide and then draining it out.
If the infection does not get better in a few days, you should see a doctor. Even for conditions that can go away without medication, it is important to get a diagnosis from a qualified healthcare provider.
Cholesteatoma
Cholesteatoma is a benign skin growth that develops in the eardrum, middle ear, or mastoid bone. It grows significantly and aggressively and can increase the risk of middle ear infections.
The growth is mainly caused by dysfunction in the eustachian tube. In other instances, dead skin accumulates in the ear and attracts bacteria that leads to infection. Some choleastomas also result from a birth defect.
Choleastomas are mainly mild at first and worsen as they grow. As the tumor grows, you will feel an increased pressure in the ears that feels like a blockage at times and can affect hearing and balance. You may also experience a foul-smelling discharge from the ear.
Treatment
Treatment for cholesteatoma involves surgery to remove the growth. If it has grown into the mastoid, a mastoidectomy is done to remove the growth from the bone. A tympanoplasty may also be done to repair the eardrum and restore hearing.
Acoustic Neuroma
This is a rare and benign tumour that forms along the eighth cranial nerve. The nerve leads from the brain to the inner ear, which is highly involved in hearing and balance. In most cases, the acoustic neuroma does not grow, and when it does, the growth is slow. When the tumour presses against nearby structures, you start feeling your ears blocked, among other symptoms.
Acoustic neuroma can be caused by various factors, including radiation exposure to the head or neck or a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis.
If you have an acoustic neuroma, you may experience hearing loss on one side, blockage or fullness in the ear, tinnitus, dizziness, balance problems, numbness, headaches, and mental confusion.
Treatment
Most treatments involve watching and waiting. If the growth has advanced, surgery or radiation may be recommended, depending on the severity of the tumour.
Noise Damage
Noise damage is quite common and often associated with ear blockage. It is mainly caused by damage to hair cells in the ear, which help create electrical signals from the sounds you hear. Those signals are then carried to the brain via the auditory nerve. Once the hair cells have been damaged, they don't grow back.
One cause of noise damage is exposure to loud noises, which can result in noise-induced hearing loss. The damaging noise can be a brief exposure, like an explosion or loud noise from workplace machinery.
If your ear blockage is caused by noise damage, you may also notice that sounds become increasingly muffled or distorted over time. You may also notice roaring, ringing, or buzzing sounds which subside over time. Noise damage may be temporary or permanent.
Treatment
Permanent hearing loss can be treated with cochlear implants or a range of hearing aids. In temporary cases, the hearing loss is usually restored after some time.
Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can cause a sensation of fullness in the ear, which is quite similar to feeling as if your ear is blocked. In addition to loud noises, you can also experience hearing loss because of age-related changes, genetics, medication side effects, and even environmental factors such as heavy metal exposure.
If you have hearing loss, you will experience fullness or clogged ears and muffled sounds. You may also notice people saying you speak louder than usual. You might also find yourself turning up the volume on devices and having difficulty understanding what others are saying.
Treatment
Treatment often depends on the cause of hearing loss. However, hearing aids may be prescribed to enhance sounds and make it easier to hear different sounds.
Fluid in the Ear
The ear has various structures in a small space that can trap liquid in the eustachian tube. Congestion or inflamed structures can make this worse.
If you have fluid in your ear, it may not cause symptoms other than clogging. But if the condition is not addressed immediately, you might also experience pain, eventually permanent changes to the eardrum, and hearing loss.
Fluid in the ear can be caused by simple factors such as swimming or showering and having the water enter your ear.
Treatment
For prolonged cases, your healthcare provider may recheck the ear every few months. However, in most cases, the fluid can be evacuated by itself. If it does not, ventilating tubes can be used to clear it out. In children, if the fluid is not drained, it could lead to hearing loss or delayed speech.
Excessive Earwax
There is no single known cause for excessive earwax. Your body may produce too much wax or may not be able to clear it efficiently.
You may have ear pain, ear infections, a feeling of fullness, or a blockage. If you have too much ear wax, you may also experience dizziness, cough, or itchiness.
Treatment
The most effective treatment for excessive earwax is removal through effective methods such as micro suction ear wax removal. If the wax is not excessive, the audiologist may recommend using ear drops that dissolve the wax and make it easier for the ear to self-clean.
It may be tempting to try to remove the excessive earwax with a cotton bud, but this will only make it worse. It could cause impaction, which will worsen the symptoms and the feeling of blocking by pushing the earwax further down the canal. Using the Q-tip could also damage nearby structures within the ear or, worse, rupture the eardrum.
Foreign Objects
Having foreign objects in your ear can also cause blockage inside the ear. Having an object lodged in the ear canal is quite common among children who may put something in their ear out of curiosity or during playtime.
If there is a foreign object in the ear, you may experience pain or notice the child rubbing their ear and looking uncomfortable. If left in for a long time, the object could also result in an infection in the ear.
Treatment
A healthcare provider can remove the object with special tools without causing further damage to the ear or its internal structures. You shouldn't try to remove the object yourself; you may end up pushing it deeper and causing damage.
Swimmer’s Ear
This is also called acute otitis externa or an outer ear infection. Your outer ear has a protective layer of wax. When it becomes wet for an extended period, like when you're swimming, the skin on the ear becomes vulnerable to infection.
You may experience pain, redness, and swelling in the ear. The ear might also be itchy and have some drainage.
Treatment
Treatment involves antibiotic eardrops to treat the infection. Once the infection is dealt with, the other symptoms, including ear blockages, disappear.
Most of these conditions are easily addressed at home over time or with the help of your healthcare provider.
If you have had an ear blockage for more than a few days and it isn't going away, or you experience other additional symptoms such as hearing loss, fever, or pain, you should contact your healthcare provider for advice. There could be an underlying issue, like an infection, that should be addressed by a trained medical professional.
How Long Does a Blocked Ear Last?
How long your blocked ear lasts depends on the cause. If it is blocked by fluid, it can take several months to clear. However, in many instances, the blockage should go away as soon as the underlying condition is addressed.
Conclusion
Many of the reasons behind ear blockage can be dealt with at home; however, there are other reasons that require specialised care. If the feeling of blocked ears is also accompanied by ear pain, tinnitus, dizziness, or fluid discharge, these are indications that you should see an audiologist.