Ear, Nose & Throat ENT Disorders What to Do When Your Ears Won't Pop 8 Safe Ways to Relieve Clogged Ears By Kristin Hayes, RN Kristin Hayes, RN Facebook Twitter Kristin Hayes, RN, is a registered nurse specializing in ear, nose, and throat disorders for both adults and children. Learn about our editorial process Updated on April 04, 2023 Medically reviewed by Benjamin F. Asher, MD Medically reviewed by Benjamin F. Asher, MD Facebook LinkedIn Benjamin F. Asher, MD, FACS, is board-certified in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. For 30 years, he has worked at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic. Learn about our Medical Expert Board Print Table of Contents View All Table of Contents What Causes the Feeling How to Pop Your Ears Why Your Ears Won't Pop When to See a Healthcare Provider Frequently Asked Questions When your ears are blocked, there are several ways to help them pop. Sometimes swallowing, yawning, or chewing gum can help. But how do these techniques help clear your ears? Your body usually balances the air pressure on both sides of your eardrum. When the pressure changes between the middle ear and the outside, you will feel like your ears are plugged. If there's a lot of pressure change, it might even hurt. Verywell / Emily Roberts In some cases, the air in your middle ear can have trouble adjusting to the pressure. This can happen when you are diving in water or flying in an airplane. It could even happen when you drive up or down a steep mountain. Your middle ear usually adjusts to the pressure difference eventually. When it does, you will feel your ears pop. Sometimes you may need to help equalize the pressure by yawning or swallowing. Certain medical conditions may impact your ability to pop your ears. When this happens, you may need to see a healthcare provider. 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 and relieve the pressure. What Causes the Feeling of Plugged Ears? If your ears won't pop, you'll be stuck with a full or plugged feeling in your ears. Pressure in your ears that won't go away can be caused by several things. The eustachian tubes connect each middle ear to the upper part of your throat. They are also called auditory tubes. The popping sensation you feel happens when air moves from the upper part of your throat and nose through the eustachian tube into your middle ear. Any medical condition that affects your eustachian tubes can prevent you from being able to pop your ears easily. Effective Ways to Pop Your Ears If you've tried everything and your ears won't pop, take a look at this list. There might be a few ideas for unclogging your ears that you hadn't thought of, such as: Swallowing Yawning Chewing gum Sucking on hard candy Using decongestants like Afrin (oxymetazoline) orSudafed (pseudoephedrine) before traveling Applying a warm compress to your ear If those steps don't make your ears pop, there are also some other strategies you can try: Valsalva maneuver: Inhale. Pinch your nose closed. Keeping lips closed, try to blow out forcefully, as if you are blowing up a balloon. Bear down as if you are having a bowel movement. This increases pressure in the sinuses and middle ears, helping them pop. Toynbee maneuver: Keep your mouth closed, pinch your nose shut, and swallow. This increases pressure in the nose, throat, and inner ears, helping ears pop. If you are traveling with an infant or toddler, try giving them a bottle, pacifier, or drink. If the pressure difference continues and can't pop your ears, you may experience ear pain. It is also possible for this to lead to barotrauma, which is a ruptured eardrum. Why Your Ears Won't Pop If you feel pressure, pain, or your ears feel plugged, but they won't pop, you may have an ear disorder. Disorders that affect the function of your auditory tube can cause this problem. Fluid in the Ear If your ears won't pop you might have fluid in your ears. Thickened fluid blocks the auditory tube and prevents the fluid from draining into the back of the throat. Sometimes this is caused by an ear infection. This condition has a few different names, including: Serous otitis media Glue ear Otitis media with effusion The adenoids are patches of tissue located high in your throat. When they become enlarged, they may block the auditory tubes, causing fluid to get trapped in the ear. This can also happen when the tissues in your nasal passages become swollen. If the auditory tube is blocked by surrounding tissue, the tissue may have to be removed. Frequent issues with fluid in the ear can be treated with a surgical procedure to insert artificial ear tubes. They let the ear drain and equalize pressure. If you have ear tubes, your ears will not pop. This is because the tube will automatically equalize pressure. Fluid in the Ear: Overview and More Excessive Earwax Ears that won't pop can also be caused by having a buildup of earwax. Too much earwax can also impair the function of your auditory tube. There are a few ways that your healthcare provider can remove the earwax. It can usually be done in their office. Wax can be removed with special ear drops that dissolve the wax. It can also be flushed out with water. The healthcare provider can also use a special instrument called a cerumen spoon to remove the wax. Do not use ear candles or cotton swabs to remove wax. This may push the wax down further. A heavy earwax blockage should be removed by an ear, nose, and throat doctor (ENT). How to Have an Ear Wax Blockage Removed Congestion If your ears won't pop and you've had a cold recently, you might have mucus in your ears. Too much mucus can make it hard to maintain pressure in the middle ear space. If you have allergies, try taking a decongestant before boarding an airplane or going on a road trip to a higher elevation. Cold viruses also cause congestion, but if this symptom lasts longer than about three weeks, see a healthcare provider. Your congestion may be caused by allergies or another condition. Patulous Eustachian Tube Sometimes, having ears that won't pop no matter what you try is a sign that there's something wrong with your ear tubes. Patulous eustachian tube is a disorder in which the tube is always open. It is an uncommon condition. Symptoms include: The sensation of plugged ears Tinnitus, a ringing sound in the ear Autophony, when your voice seems abnormally loud to you Hearing your own breathing If you have patulous eustachian tube, keeping hydrated is crucial. Be sure to drink enough fluids throughout the day and consider using a humidifier at night. Treatment for patulous eustachian tube includes non-invasive methods and surgery. Nasal sprays including saline, antihistamines, decongestants, or corticosteroids may be recommended. However, medicated nasal sprays can sometimes make it worse. Ear tubes are effective about half the time. Other treatments include cauterizing the eustachian tube, injection of cartilage-fillers, and manipulating the muscles around the eustachian tube. Other Causes When you've tried everything to get your ears to pop and have not been successful, you might need to see a provider to find out if you have a problem with your ears. Some other conditions that can cause problems with your auditory tube include: Sinusitis, an infection of your nasal passages Nasal polyps, which are growths in your nasal passages Enlarged turbinates. Turbinates are structures in your nasal passages that help warm and humidify the air you breathe in. Tonsillitis, an inflammation of the tonsils Usually, an ENT practitioner will be able to help treat or manage any of the above problems. Your ENT may prescribe medications. In some cases, ear surgery may be required. These conditions may make it uncomfortable or painful to travel. See a healthcare provider ahead of time so you can resolve these problems before you go. When to See a Healthcare Provider If at-home treatments to get your ears to pop don't work in a day or two, or if your symptoms worsen, you may have a sinus or ear infection. These symptoms warrant a call to your healthcare provider or a trip to a walk-in clinic: Severe headache or facial painPain and congestion that worsens after improving Fever that lasts longer than 72 hours When to Seek Emergency Treatment A ruptured eardrum—a hole or tear in your eardrum—is serious and can cause hearing loss. See a healthcare provider right away if you have these symptoms of a ruptured eardrum:Blood or fluid draining from the earAn intense earache followed by a pop and sudden relief of painDifficulty hearing Summary If your ears won't pop, it can lead to a lot of discomfort. The sensation of having clogged ears happens when your body can't equalize the pressure in your ears because your eustachian (auditory) tubes are blocked. Some of the best ways to pop your ears are yawning, swallowing, or chewing. Taking decongestants may also help make your ears pop fast. There are a number of conditions that can cause a blocked feeling in your ears, including fluid in the ear, excess earwax, and congestion. Some problems like sinusitis and tonsillitis may require treatment by a healthcare provider. A Word From Verywell If you've tried everything and your ears won't pop, you might be dealing with an underlying condition that needs to be diagnosed and treated by a healthcare provider. Ear problems that affect the ability to equalize pressure can be bothersome or even painful. They may get in the way of your enjoyment of activities like traveling by plane and scuba diving. Sometimes you won't know you have a problem until you are already participating in the activity. If your ears do not pop and you feel like they are clogged or you are experiencing significant ear pain, see a healthcare provider. You should also see a healthcare provider at once if you have symptoms of a ruptured eardrum. Frequently Asked Questions How can I prevent airplane ear? To avoid the feeling of clogged ears, especially during takeoff or landing, you can try a few things:Take a decongestant 30 minutes to an hour before travelingUse ear plugsChew gum or repeatedly yawn as the plane takes off and lands Learn More: How Decongestants Work Could COVID-19 cause ears to feel clogged? COVID-19 has been associated with ear infections, which can cause you to feel like your ears are clogged. However, other illnesses such as a sinus infection or another type of ear infection are more likely to cause ear pressure. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms. Learn More: Guide to COVID-19 Is it normal for children to feel like their ears are blocked? Yes, because children have narrow Eustachian tubes (tubes that connect their throat to the middle ear) that are easily blocked by congestion or changes in air pressure. This is also why children are more susceptible to ear infections than adults. What does a ruptured my eardrum feel like? A ruptured eardrum starts with an intense earache. You will hear a pop, followed by relief. Once the eardrum ruptures, you won't feel pain. It only hurts before it perforates.Other signs of a ruptured ear drum include difficulty hearing in that ear and blood or fluid draining from the ear. 10 Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Srivastav S, Jamil RT, Zeltser R. Valsalva Maneuver. [Updated 2022 May 2]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Finkelstein Y, Talmi YP, Zohar Y, Laurian N. Study of Toynbee phenomenon by combined intranasopharyngeal and tympanometric measurements. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 1988;97(2 Pt 1):199-206. doi:10.1177/000348948809700220 Nemours KidsHealth. Ear tube surgery. Cedars-Sinai. Impacted earwax. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Patulous eustachian tube. Lehman M, Sudhoff HH, Ebmeyer J. Treatment of the patulous eustachian tube with soft-tissue bulking agent injections. Otol Neurotol. 2014;36:448–52. doi:10.1097/MAO.0000000000000646 Rout MR, Mohanty D, Vijaylaxmi Y, Bobba K, Metta C. Adenoid hypertrophy in adults: a case series. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2013;65(3):269–274. doi:10.1007/s12070-012-0549-y Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sinus infection (sinusitis). Bhattacharya S, Singh A, Marzo RR. “Airplane ear”—A neglected yet preventable problem. AIMSPH. 2019;6(3):320-325. doi:10.3934%2Fpublichealth.2019.3.320 Jeong M, Ocwieja KE, Han D, et al. Direct SARS-CoV-2 infection of the human inner ear may underlie COVID-19-associated audiovestibular dysfunction. Commun Med. 2021;1(1):44. doi:10.1038/s43856-021-00044-w By Kristin Hayes, RN Kristin Hayes, RN, is a registered nurse specializing in ear, nose, and throat disorders for both adults and children. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Medical Expert Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit