Causes and solutions for swelling and blockage in the ear canal

When the Eustachian tube, the passage connecting the middle ear and the back of the nose, is blocked, you will feel a stuffy or oppressive feeling in your ears. You may also experience ear pain, dizziness, and hazy hearing. The swelling of the ears caused by a cold will subside as the cold subsides.

In addition to pressure, ear swelling is also often accompanied by tinnitus, hearing loss, hearing the echo of your own speech, nasal congestion, sore throat, and dizziness.

If your ears are blocked, you can try to open the Eustachian tube by swallowing, yawning, or chewing sugar-free gum. You can take a deep breath, then try to blow gently through your nose while pinching your nostrils and closing your mouth.

The Eustachian tube has three main functions:

1. Open and maintain patency:

Balance the pressure in the ear, strengthen the ventilation in the ear, keep the elasticity of the eardrum normal, and help normal hearing.

2. Cilia and mucus swing:

Exclude inflammatory and infectious substances from the nasopharynx.

3. Adjust to avoid injury:

Avoid excessive sound in the middle ear and avoid reflux of nasopharyngeal infection substances.

The opening of the Eustachian tube will open due to positive pressure, such as shouting, swallowing, sneezing, holding breath, pinching the nose and exhaling, causing nearby muscles to contract. This is why we avoid children's ear pain when flying, and use methods such as drinking water and yawning to help open the Eustachian tube to improve the ear stuffiness caused by pressure imbalance.

What should I do if my ears are often stuffy?

1. Symptomatic treatment:

Active treatment of sinusitis and allergic rhinitis, control of gastroesophageal reflux in the throat, surgical solution to hypertrophic adenoids, and multi-pronged treatment of sleep apnea can improve the functional abnormalities related to Eustachian tube obstruction.

2. Oral medication treatment:

Including decongestants, nasal steroid sprays, and oral steroids.

3. Surgery and treatment:

Eustachian tube balloon dilatation is a minimally invasive method that uses an endoscope to guide the balloon into the blocked and narrow Eustachian tube, and the Eustachian tube is opened through balloon dilatation. Keep your head as high as possible for three days after surgery. Avoid strenuous activities and continue to use nasal spray or even nasal washing for one week after surgery.

4. Rehabilitation exercise:

The most commonly used method is the nasal pinching and blowing method. Take a deep breath and hold your breath. Pinch your nose, close your lips, push down hard for ten seconds, and resume normal breathing.

For tinnitus and hearing loss caused by pathological reasons, you can choose to wear a suitable over-the-counter hearing aid. However, the price difference of hearing aids on the market is too large, and there are many categories.

You can choose to buy hearing aids that provide self-fitting functions. Retekess self-fitting tws hearing aids provide accurate hearing tests. After the test, you do not need to manually adjust the device, the hearing aid will automatically customize a personalized hearing experience for you.