Excess earwax or an ear injury can also lead to clogged ears.
Yawning, chewing gum, or swallowing helps for minor issues.
Verywell / Emily Roberts
How Long Does a Blocked Ear Last?
Verywell / Emily Roberts
It depends on the cause.
If your ear is blocked from pressure on an airplane, it may return to normal shortly after landing.
Extreme changes may injure youreardrumor other structures.
This can occur from the following conditions:
These activities result in discomfort and reduced hearing.
They work to equalize pressure, drain fluids, and protect your ears from infections.
Allergy medicationcan prevent disruptions in the auditory tubes while treating other symptoms.
This may develop intosinusitis, inflammation or infection of the eustration tubes.
Smoking
Smoking cigarettescan damage the ear’s natural cleaning system.
This means that smoking can result in a buildup of mucus in the eustachian tubes, causing clogged ears.
Ear Infections
As with sinus infections, ear infections sometimes go away on their own.
Other times, you may needantibiotics.
If symptoms are mild, you’re able to try home remedies before seeing a healthcare provider.
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.
In many cases, ear infections are uncomplicated and will heal without medical intervention.
Oral steroids and antinausea medications can also help ease symptoms.
Cholesteatomas grow aggressively and significantly increase the risk of middle ear infections.
Causes of cholesteatomas include:
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.
Cholesteatoma can only be removed with surgery.
In other cases, a tympanoplasty may be done to repair the eardrum and restore hearing.
Acoustic Neuroma
Anacoustic neuromais a rare, benign tumor that forms along the eighth cranial nerve.
This nerve leads from the brain to the inner ear and is highly involved in hearing and balance.
Most acoustic neuromas do not grow.
Those that do usually grow slowly.
It may also be resulting from a genetic disorder calledneurofibromatosis2 (NF2).
Symptoms develop when the neuroma presses on nearby structures.
Those signals are then carried to the brain via the auditory nerve.
Hair cells that are damaged do not grow back.
Being exposed to very loud noise can result in noise-induced hearing loss.
In addition to loud noises, there are several other reasons for hearing loss.
Permanent hearing loss may be treated with the use of hearing aids orcochlearimplants.
It may not cause symptoms other than clogging.
However, there may be pain, and eventually, permanent changes to the eardrum and/or hearing loss.
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.
Excessive Earwax
There is generally no known cause for earwax buildup.
Your body may produce too much wax or it may not be able to clear it efficiently.
Using a Q-tip could also damage nearby structures within the ear orrupture the eardrum.
You may notice a child rubbing their ear and looking uncomfortable.
If left in for a long time, the object may cause an infection.
A healthcare provider can remove the object with special tools.
Don’t have a go at remove the object yourself.
You may push it in deeper and cause damage.
Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer’s earis also known as acuteotitis externa, an outer ear infection.
Typically, your outer ear has a protective layer of wax.
Symptoms for swimmer’s ear include:
Treatment often involves antibiotic ear drops.
Decongestants or antihistamines may sometimes help.
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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