First, let's figure out what the mechanism of ear congestion is.
The organ of hearing – the ear – is a complex apparatus consisting of many “nodes” and connections. The air cavities present in it are responsible for equalizing the pressure that occurs between the inner and outer sides on the eardrum.
If the pressure on the eardrum is too great, it loses its function. We feel pressure in our ears and lose hearing acuity for a short time.
Every person at least once in his life has experienced discomfort when his ears are blocked. If this happens while on the plane, when going up or down. It can also occur due to changes in atmospheric pressure. Ear congestion in this case goes away quite quickly. If you suck on a lollipop or make swallowing movements at this moment, the pressure on your ears will decrease or disappear.
What does stuffy ears mean?
If you periodically, without the reasons listed above, experience a pressing sensation in your ears, it would be useful to consult a doctor. Blocks the ears in various serious diseases, including hypertension and hypotension.
You can find out exactly where you are using a tonometer. If the readings exceed the norm (120/80), you have high blood pressure. If the readings are below normal, your blood pressure is low.
If you have high pressure in your ears, you may
- my head is spinning
- weakness appears;
- rapid fatigue occurs;
- black dots – “spots” – flash before your eyes;
- coordination is impaired;
- numb hands and feet.
If you do not have a doctor's diagnosis for these symptoms, but they do exist, get tested.
If you have high or low blood pressure, you may be prescribed an MRI of the brain and head, X-ray of the spine, Dopplerography of blood vessels, and electroencephalography. Or maybe everything is not so bad and an examination and a general blood test will be enough. A specialist will understand your condition, and you will know what is happening, how to deal with it and will not worry about the effect of blocked ears.
If your ears are blocked and your blood pressure rises, it would be a good idea to stop smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages; reduce salt and animal food intake. Diversify your day with walks in the fresh air, and do recreational exercises.
These tips will help put the body in order, but for serious diseases accompanied by blocked ears, drug treatment will be required.
Get rid of headaches in the temples at home
You can try to alleviate headaches in the temples at home, without resorting to medications. Don’t think that any method will immediately help you recover. Treatment at home is a comprehensive approach:
- Self-massage of the head. It is done simply, without outside help, it is only important to discover where the points responsible for the headache are located. Many people gain knowledge through the process of massage. It is worth admitting that self-massage is really effective. Don't neglect it. As soon as you feel a twinge of pain, immediately take a comfortable position and start massaging your head with your fingertips. It's better to start with the area that hurts the most. Then you need to go over the entire head, including the temporal, occipital, and frontal zones. When you finish the massage, remain relaxed for a few more minutes. Rest is the best of all medicines.
- Warm bath, contrast shower. What to choose? It depends on what caused your pain. Thanks to the contrast shower, you will significantly improve blood circulation, which in turn will help you get rid of headaches. A bath will relax you, which will also help relieve pain.
- Meditation. As noted above, pain can occur due to stress, overwork, and fatigue. Meditation is the best rest for the nervous system. Many people mistakenly think that meditation is difficult. In fact, anyone can learn the basics of meditation.
- Walks in the open air. It would seem that everyone knows that it is important to walk outside, but many neglect this advice. However, everyone can be convinced that pain in the temporal region goes away after 30 minutes spent in the fresh air. Walking in public gardens is the best prevention for migraines. And besides, do not forget to constantly ventilate the room.
As for the use of folk recipes and medicinal herbs, you need to understand that it is impossible to carry out such self-medication procedures without the consent of a doctor. After all, without knowing the true nature of the origin of temporal pain, you can significantly harm your health.
If you suddenly have a sudden pain in your head, just put everything aside and try to relax, you can lie down and sleep. Quality sleep will definitely benefit you. And, most likely, you will not have to resort to the use of medications.
What happens with high blood pressure
Hypertension develops unnoticed. And a person may not immediately pay attention to the initial stage of the disease, so when your ears are blocked, check the pressure, because this may be evidence of changes in internal pressure.
With hypertension, changes in pressure will be accompanied by pain in the back of the head. In this case, coordination of movements is impaired, pulsation appears in the ears, and pain is felt in the heart area.
To answer the question unambiguously: “When the ears are clogged, is the pressure high or low?” – difficult because the symptoms are very similar. The reason is that the ear is affected by a difference in internal pressure, which occurs with both hypotension and hypertension.
How to help yourself
First of all, calm down, because you get headaches and stuffy ears in cases of nervous tension or stress. It is better to take a horizontal position. If the symptoms do not go away, then further actions depend on the pressure readings:
- Low blood pressure and dizzy: a simple set of physical exercises or a short walk will help. Strong tea, coffee, dark chocolate have a good effect on hypotensive people;
- blood pressure is increased: if your ears are blocked and your head is dizzy, take a contrast shower, it stimulates the functioning of blood vessels well. You can do it simpler: immerse your hands in warm water for a few minutes. An apple cider vinegar compress helps reduce blood pressure. Moisten a cloth with the product and apply it to your feet for 5 or 10 minutes.
If the attempts made do not produce any noticeable results, take your medications or call an ambulance.
The pressure has changed, the ears are blocked and there is bleeding from the nose. Do not panic. It may subside in about 10 minutes. Otherwise, seek medical help immediately, especially if you feel dizzy at this time.
What else does ear pressure indicate?
Ears become clogged with high or low pressure due to a sharp decrease or increase in blood pressure, but if blood pressure is normal, this may be evidence of other pathologies:
- inflammation of the auditory tube. Additionally accompanied by headache. The mucous membrane swells, as a result, the ear lumen becomes narrower and the pressure decreases. The tube begins to retract the eardrum. Popping or clicking sounds may be heard;
- renitis, sinusitis, inflammation of the maxillary sinuses, otitis. Additionally accompanied by noticeable pressure on the eyes;
- the eardrum is pressed by water that gets into the ear when swimming;
- presence of sulfur plug in the hearing organ;
- adhesions in the eardrums as a result of trauma or inflammation in the nasopharynx. Ear congestion appears suddenly, without any obvious reason.
Why does your head hurt?
If you contact a doctor directly with such symptoms, perhaps not even to any specific specialist, since you do not yet know the essence of the problem, but to an ordinary therapist, for example, he will tell you with a high degree of accuracy that the main cause of the appearance data is an ear disease. This organ is very closely interconnected with the head, which is why pain is transmitted. To find out the details of the problem, you should immediately contact an otolaryngologist.
Ear congestion that causes serious headaches can be either natural or unnatural.
- Natural congestion is a combination of several reasons why the ears may become blocked. First of all, these are fluctuations in atmospheric pressure, its sharp changes, which are immediately reflected in the ears. If the pressure is low, then the ears will definitely become blocked, because at such moments the conductivity of sound decreases. Such symptoms are usually observed in the subway, on an airplane or in an elevator. In order to return hearing to normal, you simply need to perform a series of swallowing movements. Otherwise, you need to wait until the pressure returns to normal. Your ears can easily become clogged even after swimming, when water gets into the auditory tube. Then you need to either remove it using cotton swabs, using them very carefully, or wait until the water dries on its own. Sometimes it is useful to use special pushing techniques - holding your nose and trying to push water out of your ears. Very often, such procedures help dry out the auditory tube. Ear congestion can also be caused by wax plugs that block the ear canal. In this case, it is necessary to clean your ears several times a week, removing excess wax. This should be done using special cotton swabs, very carefully so as not to damage the eardrum. If, even after you have cleaned your ears, the congestion persists, it is necessary to remove the wax plug. Natural ear congestion, as can be seen from the above, can be easily eliminated using simple procedures, and everything that relates to unnatural congestion requires the immediate intervention of an experienced otolaryngologist.
- Unnatural causes of ear congestion are various injuries directly to the ears themselves, as well as cranial injuries that accompany this congestion. Therefore, when you have a headache and your ears are blocked, try, first of all, to understand what may cause these symptoms. In addition to the symptoms that accompany ear congestion, this inconvenience can also be caused by diseases such as osteochondrosis, otitis media, some cardiovascular diseases, disorders, as well as colds.
Having established the correct diagnosis, the otolaryngologist will help you cope with the problem that has arisen by prescribing a certain effective treatment, and then the moments when and will no longer be a cause for concern.
When you have a headache and stuffy ears, this may indicate that something is wrong in the body. The range of diseases is wide, from pressure changes to serious diseases unrelated to the hearing organ. In some cases, this may be a signal of an impending stroke. Therefore, if your ears are blocked and your head hurts for too long, you need to go to the doctor, do an examination and, based on the results of the data obtained, undergo a course of treatment.
Headache and congestion in the ears do not always indicate problems with the hearing organ. The fact is that the ears are very close to the brain. Therefore, a considerable number of nerves and vessels pass near them, connecting the brain with other parts of the body, ensuring the proper functioning of the whole organism. Information about everything that happens in the body instantly reaches the central organ of the nervous system, which, after analyzing the situation, gives orders on how to proceed.
All this information passes very close to the organ of hearing, namely its inner and middle parts. Therefore, it is not surprising that when something is wrong in the body, the ears react to this with ringing, noise, pain, and a feeling of congestion.
There are two types of reasons for which this condition is observed: physiological and pathological. Physiological reasons are temporary. They are usually the body's response to changes in the environment. Therefore, after some time the symptoms disappear. The most common reasons are:
- The pressure difference in the atmosphere when flying in an airplane or rising to a great height, as well as when descending to great depths.
- Water getting into the ear canals during water procedures, at sea, in the pool.
- Hormonal imbalances during pregnancy or menopause.
- Physical or psychological stress.
- Lack of sleep.
Why do I have headaches and stuffy ears?
As already mentioned, if there is pressure on the ears, the reasons are different. Below are the main pathologies that provoke such symptoms.
Arterial hypertension
Earwax may be the reason why a person constantly feels pressure in the ear. My head doesn’t hurt at all, but the feeling that my ear is stuck with a finger prevents me from concentrating and is distracting. I want to get rid of discomfort, clear the passage.
Headache, which is accompanied by ear congestion, can be a sign of a large number of diseases.
There are times when you feel normal, but a headache begins and at the same time your ears are blocked. Such manifestations may be frequent or rare. What could this mean? Usually, stuffy ears indicate high blood pressure.
Therefore, if your ears begin to clog, try to rest, take a break from work, or better lie down. If possible, measure your blood pressure and take a pill if it is too high.
Causes of stuffy ears and headaches
It is necessary to understand that a sharp increase in blood pressure is very dangerous for the body and can even lead to a stroke. Therefore, after such a symptom, be sure to consult a doctor.
The main reason, as already mentioned, is high blood pressure. Nausea, sharp throbbing pain in the temples, spots or stars before the eyes may also appear. Not very often, but still possible, a feeling of pain in the heart, but it will pass within half an hour.
You may simply not immediately understand that your blood pressure has increased and all the symptoms that come from it. If symptoms appear in a certain sequence and this repeats several times a week, be sure to go to the doctor. Try to describe the onset of the attack in great detail. To establish an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to undergo an examination and be sure to take blood pressure measurements several times a day.
If there is pressure on the ears and a headache at the same time, you should visit an ENT doctor. He will confirm or rule out the presence of hearing aid diseases and give basic recommendations. Also, one should not exclude the possibility of external factors influencing the body.
Dizziness is a distinct sensation of objects moving around a person. When you feel dizzy, you get the impression that objects around you are shaking or spinning.
During severe attacks, a person completely loses control over the position of his body in space, which quite often leads to falls on the floor. In medicine, there is a separate term for dizziness - vertigo.
Many people, when suddenly rising from a chair or bed, experience short-term attacks of dizziness, which in some cases are accompanied by a feeling of nausea, darkening of the eyes and tinnitus.
The duration of such attacks does not exceed five to seven seconds, and their frequency can be very different, from one attack per month to several attacks per day.
The cause of this phenomenon is considered to be orthostatic hypotension - a sharp drop in intra-arterial pressure, leading to a decrease in blood circulation in the brain, which in turn leads to dizziness and sometimes fainting. Here are some common symptoms present during attacks:
- Severe weakness;
- Blurry vision;
- Convulsions;
- Unpleasant sensations in the epigastric region;
Ear problems
When your ears are noisy, ringing, or blocked, the doctor first suspects various problems with the organ of hearing, so he sends you to an ENT specialist for examination. To understand why this problem may arise, you first need to at least schematically understand how the middle ear works.
It consists of three parts. The outer ear is the pinna and auditory canal. The pinna picks up sound waves and sends them down the narrow ear canal, where they hit the tympanic membrane and cause it to vibrate. These vibrations are picked up by the auditory ossicles, which are located in the middle ear. In a healthy person, it is filled with air, which enters here through the Eustachian tubes, the entrance to which is located in the nasopharynx.
The auditory ossicles transmit signals to the inner ear, which consists of two parts. One is responsible for converting the received vibrations into an electrical impulse, which is sent along the auditory nerve to the auditory analyzers of the brain. The second is for the work of the vestibular apparatus.
If sound waves encounter even the slightest obstacle in their path, this will reduce hearing acuity. If there is damage to the organ of hearing, the ears will become blocked and migraines will appear. The reason for this may be:
- Inflammatory processes in one of the parts of the ear, or even in several: external, otitis media, labyrinthitis. There may be a high temperature, and if the inner ear is damaged, dizziness may occur.
- Mastoiditis, meningitis and other complications after otitis.
- Neuroma is a benign formation in the area of the auditory nerve.
- Earwax usually affects one ear. If the plug is ignored for a long time, inflammation of the ear canal or eardrum will begin.
- Injuries to the outer ear: damage from a blow or fall, penetration of foreign objects into the ear canal, burns from a chemical or acid, frostbite.
- Barotrauma or acoustic trauma is damage or even rupture of the eardrum as a result of a sudden change in pressure or an excessively loud sound (diving underwater too quickly, an explosion).
It is not always possible to independently determine the cause of damage. For example, an ear plug does not show itself for a long time, and as wax accumulates, hearing in one ear gradually deteriorates, sometimes causing ringing in the ears. It is also difficult to independently detect a tumor that develops on the tissues of the ear or nerve.
In other situations, the reason why the ears are blocked and the head hurts can be understood from the clinical picture. For example, if a person has previously had the flu or a cold, it makes sense to suspect inflammation of the middle ear. If the headaches do not stop, dizziness and nausea appear, a possible complication of otitis media, in which the inflammation spreads to the inner ear.
If the problem is ignored, the situation may worsen because the damaged cells in the inner ear are not restored. This means that hearing acuity will deteriorate forever, and if the part of the ear that is responsible for the functioning of the vestibular apparatus is affected, dizziness will accompany the person for the rest of his life.
There may be congestion in the ears and severe headache after a blow to the head, especially in the ear area. In this case, a concussion or a condition close to it is possible. Therefore, if you happen to hit your head on something, your head hurts, your coordination is impaired, your hearing has deteriorated, it is better to contact a neurologist.
Why does pressure occur in the ears?
Let's look at the most common reasons:
- Migraine. In this case, the pain will be long-lasting. Despite the prevalence of this disease, its true causes are still not fully understood, and control methods have not been determined. The pain often radiates to the temples or the back of the head and can persist for several weeks or even months. Conventional analgesics do not relieve pain, and bright light can be very irritating.
- Increased intracranial pressure.
- Disorders of the auditory nerve, in particular the appearance of neoplasms.
- Atherosclerosis.
- Acute and chronic otitis. During the inflammatory process, secretions, such as pus, accumulate in the middle ear, which causes a feeling of pressure.
- Osteochondrosis. With cervical osteochondrosis, the vessels and arteries that lead to the brain are pinched or even injured.
- Violation of the vascular system, which entails the appearance of other symptoms: deterioration of memory, vision and hearing, clouding of consciousness, headaches, heaviness in the head.
- Arterial hypertension can lead to spasm of the cervical vessels. Patients develop headaches.
- Adenoiditis.
- Pregnancy.
- Hearing loss.
- Diving to depth.
- The effect of certain medications.
- Frequent use of headphones, earplugs, and long conversations on the phone.
- Presence of sulfur plug. Earwax buildup can completely block the ear canal.
Separately, I would like to mention changes in atmospheric pressure. Ascents and descents from mountains, airplane flights - all this leads to the pressing of the eardrum into the ear canal, which causes discomfort in the ear. Chewing gum or sucking candy will help get rid of the unpleasant symptom.
If there is pressing pain in the ears, you should consult an ENT doctor
Cause: osteochondrosis
Headaches, blocked ears, and dizziness can occur even when there are no signs of obvious illness. The cause may be cervical osteochondrosis. This disease affects everyone who has a curved spine. Recently, the number of cases has increased due to a sedentary lifestyle. At a young age, this problem is especially invisible, but after thirty, the symptoms of osteochondrosis increasingly make themselves felt.
Why does cervical osteochondrosis cause headaches and stuffy ears? The fact is that the vertebrae concentrated in the neck area fit quite tightly to each other. At the same time, many blood vessels and nerves pass through the neck, and the organs are located very compactly and end to end. With cervical osteochondrosis, the vertebral discs become deformed and put pressure on the vessels and nerves. Among them is the vertebral artery, through which blood flows directly to the posterior parts of the brain.
Along with the blood, various nutrients are supplied to the brain, which are necessary for its normal functioning. If the vertebral artery is compressed, nutrition to the brain is reduced. This causes various destructive processes in him, and the person develops pain symptoms. Including headaches, congestion in the ears, and during exacerbation, terrible pain in the neck may appear, when a person can hardly turn his head.
To prevent this, you must definitely devote time to exercise and sports exercises. In case of exacerbation, special medications and various physiotherapeutic procedures will help. Which ones exactly - the doctor must decide.
Hypertension and stroke
High blood pressure (hypertension), in which the blood puts too much pressure on the blood vessels, causes painful symptoms, including terrible headaches, ear congestion, and dizziness. This negatively affects the condition of blood vessels, heart, brain and can cause stroke or heart failure.
Heart attack, like cerebral stroke, is a deadly condition. This disease is more common in older people, but can sometimes affect a young body. The main causes are atherosclerosis, cervical osteochondrosis, diabetes, heart disease, and excess weight. Alcohol, smoking and other bad habits have their influence.
You can suspect an approaching stroke by dark spots before the eyes, throbbing pain in the temples, and a pressing sensation in the heart area. Possible nausea and vomiting. If your ears become blocked and severe headaches appear, this means your blood pressure has risen sharply, and you should urgently call an ambulance. With these symptoms, the likelihood of a stroke is high. If the suspicion is confirmed and an attack occurs, the sooner medical assistance is provided, the greater the chances of remaining alive after the blow and not becoming disabled.
Causes and possible diseases
Pressure on the ears and headaches are just symptoms, but they can indicate serious illness
If a patient complains that he has pressure on his ears and a headache, then this can have many different reasons, which can be fairly roughly divided into the following groups:
- Problems caused by displacement of the vertebrae in the cervical spine, pinched nerves and spastic condition of the muscles, poor circulation. The most common disease that causes a feeling of pressure in the ears and headaches is cervical osteochondrosis. In this case, headaches are often caused by the fact that the brain does not receive normal nutrition due to pinched arteries in the cervical region. Blood flows in insufficient quantities, and the brain reacts to this with pain of varying intensity, dizziness and spasms. Pinched nerves often provoke “shooting” pains that can radiate to the neck, head, and ears.
- Diseases and injuries of the ears - from otitis media to Meniere's disease, rupture of the eardrum. Dizziness and a feeling of fullness can be caused by problems with the vestibular system. They can be hereditary in nature or occur after injury, severe infection or the presence of a tumor - benign or malignant.
- If there are problems with the vestibular system, tinnitus and headaches are often accompanied by nausea and impaired coordination of movements. Such patients do not tolerate rocking on water or in transport, flying on airplanes and even traveling in high-speed elevators. In people with significant damage to the middle ear, dizziness and nausea appear even from the spectacle of a stormy sea and rocking on the TV screen. Colds and infectious diseases of the ears are usually associated with very severe pain, from which the whole head hurts, and the ears are noisy and “shooting”.
- Diseases of the cardiovascular system. Often provoke tinnitus, dizziness and a feeling of tightness, compression of the head. Arrhythmias, angina pectoris, tachycardia are accompanied not only by pain in the heart, but also by spasms of cerebral vessels, headaches of varying degrees of intensity, nausea, weakness and stuffy ears.
- Diseases of the nervous system. Depression, neuroses, panic attacks, various mental imbalances are often accompanied by headaches, attacks of sudden dizziness, sometimes associated with hyperventilation, a feeling of congestion and pressure in the ears, acute and diffuse headaches.
Migraines are severe attacks of headache
Some diseases, the symptoms of which are headaches and discomfort in the ears, can threaten the patient’s health, and in the absence of proper and timely treatment can lead to serious consequences.
Danger signs and complications
One of the dangerous symptoms that accompanies the condition when there is pressure on the ears and a headache is an increase in blood pressure. This may indicate that a person has hypertension, or high blood pressure. In addition to the fact that this disease has an extremely negative impact on the general well-being of the patient, there is a very high risk of complications in the form of such dangerous diseases as stroke, heart attack, liver failure, kidney failure and many other disorders in the normal functioning of the body.
With low blood pressure - hypotension - and with vegetative-vascular dystonia, the patient suffers from severe attacks of dizziness, weakness, and ringing in the ears. If there is a sudden change in body position, a person may faint and be seriously injured.
Useful video - Why your ears get clogged:
If headaches become constant, periodically intensifying to unbearable, accompanied by tinnitus, ringing, sound hallucinations (many patients feel like a kettle is boiling or water is dripping from a tap somewhere), flashes of light before the eyes, distortion of taste or the appearance of a feeling that the room smells distinctly of burnt rubber, this may indicate that the patient has a brain tumor. These are very dangerous signs that require prompt medical attention.
If pain, noises and sensations of pressure appear after a fall or blow to the head, an accident or an accident, a concussion and/or hematoma may be suspected, so you should definitely see a doctor with such symptoms. The same applies to situations where the listed symptoms are complicated by disturbances in speech, vision, mobility, numbness of the tongue or limbs. Here we are talking about a stroke.