Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsReasons for Clogged EarsHow to Clear a Clogged EarWhen to See a Healthcare Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Reasons for Clogged Ears
How to Clear a Clogged Ear
When to See a Healthcare Provider
Clogged ears can feel uncomfortable, and there are several reasons for them. Changes in altitude and the effects of a cold or virus can cause swollen or blocked eustachian tubes. Excess earwax or an ear injury can also cause clogged ears. If your ears feel clogged, you might find that yawning, chewing gum, or swallowing helps. Most ears will eventually unclog on their own or once the cause is addressed.
If it doesn’t and your ear has been clogged for days, treatments are available depending on the cause. In some situations, you should leave the ear unclogging to a healthcare provider so you don’t damage the delicate structures inside your ears or make the blockage worse.
Verywell / Emily Roberts
The sensation of a clogged ear is uncomfortable, especially when your ear feels clogged for days. Reasons why your ear feels clogged include, but are not limited to:
Fortunately, most of these conditions are treatable at home, over time, or with the help of your healthcare provider.
How Long Does a Blocked Ear Last?It depends on the cause. If your ear is blocked from pressure on an airplane, it may return to normal shortly after landing. If your ear is blocked because of fluid, it can sometimes take several months for your ears to clear.
How Long Does a Blocked Ear Last?
It depends on the cause. If your ear is blocked from pressure on an airplane, it may return to normal shortly after landing. If your ear is blocked because of fluid, it can sometimes take several months for your ears to clear.
Changes in Altitude or Atmospheric Pressure
Causes:When atmospheric pressure changes or you change altitude, the pressure change can cause your ears to clog or “pop.” Extreme changes may injure youreardrumor other structures.
Symptoms:Clogging while driving up a steep mountain, taking off in an airplane, or SCUBA diving is calledbarotrauma. The pressure may be uncomfortable and reduce hearing.
Treatment:The best ways to prevent this are to swallow, chew gum, or yawn frequently. This opens up your eustachian tube and lets outside air enter the ear, equalizing the pressure.
If you have allergies or frequently have trouble unclogging your ears during altitude changes, you may want to take yourallergy medicationor adecongestantahead of time.
Eustachian Tube Dysfunction
Eustachian (or auditory) tube dysfunction is an umbrella term for many things that can make your ears feel clogged.
Causes:There are several possible causes, including:
The first two problems are especially common in children.
Symptoms:Symptoms may include the following:
Treatment:Treatments include over-the-counter or prescription antihistamines, decongestants, cold and flu medications, and nasal sprays;steroid nasal spraysmay lower inflammation.
When to See a Healthcare ProviderIf you’re getting worse despite treatment, especially with COVID-19 or influenza, see your healthcare provider soon to avoid serious illness and complications.
If you’re getting worse despite treatment, especially with COVID-19 or influenza, see your healthcare provider soon to avoid serious illness and complications.
Ear Infections
As with sinus infections, ear infections sometimes go away on their own. Other times, you may needantibiotics. If symptoms are mild, you can try home remedies before seeing a healthcare provider.
Causes:Causes of ear infections include viruses (which don’t require antibiotics), and bacteria (which may), allergies, and occasionally fungi.
Infections most often occur with upper respiratory illnesses (colds, flu, sinusitis, strep throat, laryngitis, and tonsillitis), but can develop independently of other illnesses.
Symptoms:Ear pain, fever, and difficulty sleeping are all symptoms of an ear infection. In children, fussiness,irritability, and rubbing or tugging at the ear may be observed.
Treatment:In many cases, ear infections are uncomplicated and will heal without medical intervention. Hometreatmentcan help ease the discomfort of an infection. Try using a cold or hot compress over the ear, OTC pain relievers (e.g., Advil, Tylenol), or a few drops of hydrogen peroxide (allow it to bubble, then tip your head to drain it out).
If the infection doesn’t start getting better in two or three days, see a healthcare provider.For more serious conditions, treatment can involve antiviral drugs (viral infections) or antibiotics (bacterial infections). Oral steroids and antinausea medications can also help ease symptoms.
When to See Emergency Treatment for a Child
Cholesteatoma
Acholesteatomais a benign (non-cancerous) skin growth that develops in the eardrum and can grow into the middle ear and mastoid bone. Cholesteatomas grow aggressively and significantly increase the risk of middle ear infections.
Causes:The most common cause is dysfunction in the eustachian tube. Other times, dead skin accumulates in the ear, which attracts bacteria and leads to infection. Some cholesteatomas result from a birth defect.
Symptoms:Symptoms tend to be mild at first and worsen as the cholesteatoma grows. Symptoms include pressure in the ear that can affect hearing and balance. There may also be foul-smelling drainage from the ear.
Treatment:Cholesteatoma can only be removed with surgery. If the cholesteatoma has grown into the mastoid (the large bone behind the ear), a mastoidectomy is done to remove the cholesteatoma from the bone. Or, a tympanoplasty may be done to repair the eardrum and restore hearing.
Acoustic Neuroma
Symptoms:Hearing loss on one side, a feeling of fullness in the ear, ringing in the ear (tinnitus), dizziness or balance problems, facial numbness or tingling, headaches, and mental confusion are the most common symptoms.
Treatment:Treatment may involve watching and waiting, surgery, or radiation, depending on how severe the acoustic neuroma is.
Noise Damage
Causes:Being exposed to very loud noise can result in noise-induced hearing loss. The damaging noise can be a brief exposure, like an explosion, or a chronic exposure, like loud noise from workplace machinery.
Symptoms:Signs of noise damage usually happen gradually. Sounds may become increasingly muffled or distorted over time. There may be roaring, buzzing, orringing in the ears, which may subside over time. Hearing loss can also make the ears feel clogged.Noise damage hearing loss may be temporary or permanent.
Treatment:Permanent hearing loss may be treated with the use of hearing aids orcochlearimplants.
Hearing Loss
Generalhearing losscan cause the sensation of fullness in the ear. In addition to loud noises, there are several other reasons for hearing loss.
Causes:Reasons for hearing loss include age-related changes, genetics, medication side effects, and environmental factors such as heavy metal exposure.
Symptoms:Symptoms of ear fullness or clogged ears due to hearing loss depend on the cause. Since hearing loss can be slow and gradual over time, individuals may not notice it is happening. Thus, symptoms often include being told you speak louder than usual, needing to turn the volume up on devices, and having difficulty understanding what others are saying.
Fluid in the Ear
Causes:Congestion or inflamed structures can trap liquid in the eustachian tube, which connects your middle ear to the back of your throat, where fluid typically drains.
Symptoms:It may not cause symptoms other than clogging. However, there may be pain, and eventually, permanent changes to the eardrum and/or hearing loss.
Treatment:For prolonged cases, your healthcare provider may re-check it every few months. After the six-month mark, they may recommendventilating tubesto clear it out.
If young children havefluid in the earsfor a long time without treatment, it may lead to hearing loss and/or delayed speech.
Excessive Earwax
Causes:There is generally no known cause. Your body may produce too much wax or it may not be able to clear it efficiently.
Symptoms:If you have a blockage, you may have ear pain, ear infections, a feeling of fullness, ringing, hearing loss, dizziness, itchiness, or cough.
Treatment:Your healthcare provider may flush your ear with water, scoop out the wax with special tools, or useear dropsthat dissolve the wax.
Foreign Objects
Causes:A foreign object can become lodged in the ear canal; this is most common in young children, who may put something in there out of curiosity or because a friend dared them to.
Symptoms:Pain is common. You may notice a child rubbing their ear and looking uncomfortable. If left in for a long time, the object may cause an infection.
Treatment:A healthcare provider can remove the object with special tools.
Don’t try to remove the object yourself. You may push it in deeper and cause damage.
Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer’s ear is also known as acuteotitis externa, an outer ear infection.
Causes:Typically, your outer ear has a protective layer of wax. When it becomes wet for an extended period, for example, when swimming, the skin on the ear becomes vulnerable to infection.
Symptoms:Symptoms include pain, redness, and swelling of the ear. The ear may also be itchy, and drainage may be present.
Treatment:Treatment often involves antibiotic ear drops.
Depending on the cause, there are several measures you can try at home to unclog your ears. For example, when you first notice your ears are clogged and think the cause is due to pressure changes, you can try:
If your ears are clogged due to allergies or an illness such as a cold or the flu, relieving congestion may help. Over-the-counter antihistamines are one option to reduce nasal stuffiness. Other options include using a neti pot, saline rinse, drinking warm tea, or decongestants such as Mucinex.
If those options don’t work or your symptoms are potentially related to a more serious cause, you may need medical attention versus self-treatment at home.
Consult with a healthcare provider if you have:
Go to the nearest emergency room if any of these symptoms begin suddenly, won’t go away, or are severe.
If you notice any fluid draining from the ear or smell a foul odor, your child needs to see a healthcare professional immediately.
Summary
For simple causes of clogged ears, you can try swallowing, yawning, chewing, or eating. Decongestants or antihistamines may sometimes help.
Changes in altitude or atmospheric pressure, eustachian tube dysfunction, ear infections, foreign objects, or earwax blocking the eustachian tube are common causes of clogged ears.
Most of the time, these problems are easily diagnosed and treated. Some causes always require medical help (e.g., fluid, foreign objects, or earwax buildup).
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Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Academy of Family Physicians.Otitis media (with effusion).University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, McGovern Medical School: UTHealthHouston.How to pop your ears.American Academy of Family Physicians.Sinusitis.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sinus infection (sinusitis).Schilder AGM, Chonmaitree T, Cripps AW, et al.Otitis media.Nat Rev Dis Primers.2016;2(1):16063. doi:10.1038/nrdp.2016.63Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Ear infection.Mount Sinai.Cholesteatoma.University of California Irvine.Causes and treatments: cholesteatoma.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma).Cedars Sinai.Acoustic neuroma.National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.Noise-induced hearing loss.Harvard Health Publishing.Why do my ears feel clogged?.MedlinePlus.Age-related hearing loss.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Eustachian tube dysfunction.Minovi A, Dazert S.Diseases of the middle ear in childhood.GMS Curr Top Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg.2014;13:Doc11. doi:10.3205/cto000114National Health Service: NHS Inform.Earwax build-up.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing swimmer’s ear.Harvard Health Publishing.By the way, doctor: Plugged-up feeling in an ear.Additional ReadingAmerican Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.Ears and altitude (barotrauma).Diacova S, McDonald TJ, Ababii I.Clinical, functional, and surgical findings in chronic bilateral otitis media with effusion in childhood.Ear Nose Throat J. 2016 Aug;95(8):E31-7.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Academy of Family Physicians.Otitis media (with effusion).University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, McGovern Medical School: UTHealthHouston.How to pop your ears.American Academy of Family Physicians.Sinusitis.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sinus infection (sinusitis).Schilder AGM, Chonmaitree T, Cripps AW, et al.Otitis media.Nat Rev Dis Primers.2016;2(1):16063. doi:10.1038/nrdp.2016.63Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Ear infection.Mount Sinai.Cholesteatoma.University of California Irvine.Causes and treatments: cholesteatoma.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma).Cedars Sinai.Acoustic neuroma.National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.Noise-induced hearing loss.Harvard Health Publishing.Why do my ears feel clogged?.MedlinePlus.Age-related hearing loss.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Eustachian tube dysfunction.Minovi A, Dazert S.Diseases of the middle ear in childhood.GMS Curr Top Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg.2014;13:Doc11. doi:10.3205/cto000114National Health Service: NHS Inform.Earwax build-up.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing swimmer’s ear.Harvard Health Publishing.By the way, doctor: Plugged-up feeling in an ear.
American Academy of Family Physicians.Otitis media (with effusion).
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, McGovern Medical School: UTHealthHouston.How to pop your ears.
American Academy of Family Physicians.Sinusitis.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sinus infection (sinusitis).
Schilder AGM, Chonmaitree T, Cripps AW, et al.Otitis media.Nat Rev Dis Primers.2016;2(1):16063. doi:10.1038/nrdp.2016.63
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Ear infection.
Mount Sinai.Cholesteatoma.
University of California Irvine.Causes and treatments: cholesteatoma.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma).
Cedars Sinai.Acoustic neuroma.
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.Noise-induced hearing loss.
Harvard Health Publishing.Why do my ears feel clogged?.
MedlinePlus.Age-related hearing loss.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Eustachian tube dysfunction.
Minovi A, Dazert S.Diseases of the middle ear in childhood.GMS Curr Top Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg.2014;13:Doc11. doi:10.3205/cto000114
National Health Service: NHS Inform.Earwax build-up.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing swimmer’s ear.
Harvard Health Publishing.By the way, doctor: Plugged-up feeling in an ear.
American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.Ears and altitude (barotrauma).Diacova S, McDonald TJ, Ababii I.Clinical, functional, and surgical findings in chronic bilateral otitis media with effusion in childhood.Ear Nose Throat J. 2016 Aug;95(8):E31-7.
American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.Ears and altitude (barotrauma).
Diacova S, McDonald TJ, Ababii I.Clinical, functional, and surgical findings in chronic bilateral otitis media with effusion in childhood.Ear Nose Throat J. 2016 Aug;95(8):E31-7.
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