How to unclog ears after flying with a cold

If you’ve ever flown before, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced a feeling of fullness or pressure in your ears, particularly during takeoff and landing. Research estimates that 10% of adults and 22% of children experience changes to their eardrums after a flight.

Table of Contents Show

Symptoms of Airplane Ear
How to Prevent Ear Pain When Flying
Should You Fly if You Have a Cold?
What to Do if Ears Stay Clogged
Try chewing gum.
Suck on a hard candy.
Make yourself yawn.
Use the doctor-approved technique called the Valsalva maneuver.
If the Valsalva maneuver is too difficult, try the Toynbee maneuver.
How long do clogged ears last from plane?
Why won't my ears unclog after flying?
How long will my ears stay clogged after a cold?
Can flying with a cold damage your ears?

This is known as airplane ear, and it’s caused by the change in pressure that happens due to a change in altitudes.

Symptoms of Airplane Ear

You can experience airplane ear in one or both of your ears. Common symptoms include:

A feeling of fullness in your ear
Muffled hearing
Moderate ear pain or discomfort
Slight hearing loss

While less common, in severe cases you may experience:

Intense pain or pressure
Moderate to severe hearing loss
Tinnitus
Vertigo
Ruptured eardrum

Less severe symptoms often resolve quickly on their own or with the help of a few self-care methods. However, if you are experiencing discomfort when you fly, it’s important to know that there are ways to prevent it from interfering with your trip.

How to Prevent Ear Pain When Flying

Use filtered earplugs. Not only do they stagger external air pressure to reduce your ear pain, but they also can help protect your ears from loud noises that can accompany flying. You can find them at most drugstores, or you can even pick some up right before your trip at one of the shops at Newark Airport.
Chew gum, yawn or suck on hard candy. These actions help to open the Eustachian tubes in your ears, which can alleviate pressure.
Try maneuvers to alleviate pressure. During takeoff, try the Toynbee maneuver, which involves pinching your nose together and taking a few sips of water at the same time. During landing, you can try the Valsalva maneuver. Gently breathe out while pinching your nose and keeping your mouth closed. You may have to do this several times before your ears pop.

Should You Fly if You Have a Cold?

If you are experiencing nasal congestion or clogged ears before flying due to a cold or allergies, you may be at a greater risk of airplane ear. If possible, you might want to consider changing your travel plans (especially if you’re contagious!) However, that often isn’t a viable option.

If you do travel, use an over-the-counter nasal spray 30 minutes before takeoff and again 30 minutes before landing. You can also take allergy medications or decongestants an hour before your flight.

What to Do if Ears Stay Clogged

It’s not uncommon for your ears to stay clogged for a while after landing. You can try the Valsalva maneuver again, or you can steam your ears by placing your head over a bowl of boiling water and covering your head with a towel to create a tent.

I had to fly home from vacation with a cold, and now my ears are painfully clogged and I can’t hear a thing. Help!

Ouch. Airplane ear happens when there's an imbalance between the air pressure in the middle ear and the air pressure around you, which changes rapidly with the altitude during the start and end of a flight. Yawning, swallowing or chewing gum can usually fix it by letting air flow through the eustachian tubes—the narrow passages between the middle ear and the back of the nose—equalizing the pressure. But a cold or sinus infection complicates things because congestion can block the tubes. Result: painful pressure and hearing problems.

To clear the clog, you need an over-the-counter decongestant to encourage drainage; a nasal spray may also help calm any swelling that's adding to the problem. Also try taking ibuprofen or acetaminophen to treat related pain. (Congested due to allergies? Go with an antihistamine.) Once you've given the medicine some time to work, close your mouth, pinch your nose shut and very gently push air into the back of your nose as if you were blowing it, which may help nudge the tubes open. These tactics, combined with a little patience, should do the trick, but if the issue persists or the pain gets worse, see your doc. A clog can turn into a bacterial ear infection, for which you'll need antibiotics.

Health's medical editor, Roshini Rajapaksa, MD, is assistant professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine and co-founder of Tula Skincare.

Many people have experienced the uncomfortable sensation of having their ears plug up during a flight. According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, it has to do with the eustachian tube, a channel in our ear that stabilizes pressure between our two ears.

As we ascend or descend while flying, the change in altitude affects the eustachian tube's ability to regulate that pressure. Sometimes the change in pressure causes the eustachian tube to collapse, which creates that blocked sensation.

This means the key to relieving that feeling is to reopen to the eustachian tube so it can equalize the pressure. Thankfully, you don't have to wait until you arrive at your destination to make that happen.

Here are five ways to pop your ears while you're still in the air.

Try chewing gum.

Any flavor works.Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Next time you're waiting at the airport, be sure to pick up some gum. Chewing gum can actually help pop your ears on a plane because it stimulates saliva production.

As the mouth produces more saliva, we naturally begin to swallow. When you swallow, the muscles on your soft palate (aka the roof of your mouth) pull the eustachian tube open. This typically gets rid of the clogged feeling in your ears.

Suck on a hard candy.

Lollipops work just fine.Pixabay

Like chewing gum, the act of sucking a lollipop, cough drop, or any small candy stimulates saliva production that can lead to swallowing. As noted previously, this action causes ears to pop.

Make yourself yawn.

Watching someone else yawn might help.Matt Cardy/Stringer/Getty Images

It may seem strange to think of forcing a yawn if you're not tired, but it's one of the easiest ways to safely pop your ears.

According to Mayo Clinic, when we opening our mouths nice and wide stretches muscles in the back of our throat that are connected to the eustachian tube. This can cause the tube to reopen so it can adjust to the outside air pressure.

Once the pressure stabilizes, the discomfort disappears. You can try to make yourself yawn by inhaling deeply while thinking about yawning.

Read More: 15 secrets you never knew about flying

Use the doctor-approved technique called the Valsalva maneuver.

You might've done this in a doctor's office.Wikimedia Commons

This popular technique can be an effective way to clear air-clogged ears, according to a study by the ENT department of Gentofte University Hospital.

According to Healthline, to perform an effective Valsalva, you first need to close your mouth and pinch your nose. Then, gently breathe out through your nose.

Doing this pushes air into the nose, and in effect, the eustachian tube. That air flow can cause the tube to open up and successfully pop that clogged feeling.

However, be careful not to blow the air too forcefully into your nose because it can potentially burst your eardrum.

If the Valsalva maneuver is too difficult, try the Toynbee maneuver.

A few sips of water can help.iStock Photo

According to a study by the Gulhane Military Medical Academy, the Toynbee maneuver is another effective approach to help clear your ears.

To do this, simply pinch your nose and swallow. If your mouth is feeling a little dry, a few sips of water can make the process easier.

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How long do clogged ears last from plane?

Airplane ear usually goes away once the plane lands. A formal medical diagnosis is usually unnecessary. However, call your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms: Ongoing pain.

Why won't my ears unclog after flying?

According to the Mayo Clinic, it results from an imbalance in air pressure between the air pressure inside the cabin of the airplane, and the pressure in your middle ear. This difference can happen during rapid changes in altitude and the resulting discomfort is something most air travelers have experienced.

How long will my ears stay clogged after a cold?

If you have ear congestion, you might feel ear pressure or fullness together with some sort of muffled hearing. Some people also experience some crackling or buzzing noises. A congested ear will usually go away on its own after five to seven days and generally isn't something to worry too much about.

Can flying with a cold damage your ears?

Influenza, head colds and sinus infections can cause blockages in the Eustachian tube, restricting the flow of air and preventing equalisation. This commonly causes pain, and can even lead to vertigo, tinnitus or temporary hearing loss.