There are few things more annoying than when an ear feels clogged. If you’re sick with something like a cold, you likely already feel pretty crummy, so adding unpleasant ear congestion into the mix is the last thing you need.
Unfortunately, dealing with ear congestion is often the name of the game with any illness or infection that impacts the general vicinity of your head, Bradford A. Woodworth, MD, a professor in the department of otolaryngology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, tells SELF. “Because our ears, nose, and throat are all closely connected, a problem in one area often leads to another,” Dr. Woodworth says.
But there are lots of reasons that clogged feeling may set up shop in your ears, and some are a bit more complicated than others. Desperately searching for ear pressure relief? Read on to figure out what you can do about it.
Why do your ears feel blocked when you’re sick with something like a cold or flu?
Your ears, nose, and throat link up via tiny canals called eustachian tubes1. These tubes, located on each side of your head, start in the middle of your ear and end at the back of your nose and upper throat, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM).
These tubes open and close regularly to adjust the air pressure in your middle ear, remove natural fluids from your middle ear, and circulate new air inside your ear, according to the Mayo Clinic. When you’re dealing with something like a respiratory infection, which includes things like the common cold,2 flu, or COVID-19, your eustachian tube openings can become partially blocked due to tissue inflammation and mucus secretions, Dr. Woodworth says.
This blockage can interfere with the normal functioning of the tubes, leading to a pressure imbalance, Anthony Del Signore, MD, director of rhinology and endoscopic skull base surgery at Mount Sinai Union Square in New York City, tells SELF. When the eustachian tubes are partially blocked, it’s harder for those middle ear secretions to flow down the back of your throat (yum), which can make your ear feel clogged.
If you feel like you always wind up with ear congestion when you’re sick, know that some people’s eustachian tubes are naturally shaped in a way that makes them more prone to ear discomfort while ill, Dr. Del Signore says. Eustachian tubes that are narrower or more horizontal than average make it easier for fluid to collect in the middle ear. (Children’s eustachian tubes are shaped this way, which is part of the reason why ear issues are more common in kids, according to the Mayo Clinic.) Other people might have more abundant mucous linings at the opening of their eustachian tubes, which can make swelling more likely when they’re sick, Dr. Del Signore adds.
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What are other possible reasons your ear feels clogged?
You can have ear congestion even if you don’t have a respiratory infection. Here are some other common reasons your ear feels clogged:
You’re dealing with allergies.
It’s easy to confuse allergies with an upper respiratory infection because the two share similar symptoms. However, allergic reactions are caused by an immune system attack on generally non-threatening substances like food, pollen, or mold, so those associated symptoms should be treated a little differently than, say, those from a cold caused by a virus. In addition to sneezing, sinus pressure, and a runny nose, you may also experience itchy, watery eyes, which can help distinguish allergies from a cold or flu. Allergies also cause nasal inflammation and tissue swelling at the very back of your nasal passage, so you may have ear pressure for the same reason as many respiratory infections.
You have a sinus infection.
If you’re feeling oddly intense pressure in your face, you may be dealing with the telltale sign of a sinus infection, which can occur after a cold or when allergies flare up because all that fluid buildup in your nasal passages can cause germs to flourish, setting up the perfect environment for an infection to take hold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Sinus infection symptoms can include ear congestion or pressure in addition to pressure around your eyes and nose, postnasal drip, cough, fatigue, and sometimes a fever, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
You have an ear infection.
It’s probably no surprise that an ear infection makes your ears feel, well, awful. Otitis media, which is an infection in the middle ear, is commonly just called an ear infection, according to the Cleveland Clinic, but there are other infections involving the ear, and they are known by different names. Otitis media happens when a virus or bacteria infects the fluid behind the eardrum and causes symptoms such as eardrum pain, swelling, and ear congestion. Kids are more likely than adults to get this type of ear infection due to the shape of their eustachian tubes.
Source: SELF
