The body's ability to perceive environmental sounds and human speech depends, first of all, on the auditory analyzer. Hearing impairment, even the most minor, always causes discomfort in a person and limits his normal life activities.
The condition of ear congestion occurs for various reasons, it can be one-sided or bilateral, but always, at the same time, hearing acuity decreases, the correct perception of one’s own and someone else’s voice may be disrupted, extraneous noises and overtones appear in the perceived sounds, and sometimes painful sensations. With sudden ear congestion, even a state of panic may occur with impaired breathing. Therefore, you should decide why your ears are blocked.
Eustachite
In medicine, a broad understanding of this condition is used as inflammation of the middle ear. It must be said that the primary symptoms of the disease arise due to inflammation of the Eustachian tube. The close connection of this canal with the middle ear contributes to the further spread of the pathological process. In addition, during the acute phase of the disease, the mucous membrane of the Eustachian tube swells, resulting in a narrowing of its lumen, against which the internal pressure of the tympanic cavity decreases and a feeling of congestion appears.
Treatment methods
If the cause of the disease is already known, understanding how to treat ear congestion at home is not so difficult. You cannot eliminate congestion on your own, because there is a risk of complications. If problems with the middle ear, otitis of various etiologies are identified, then treatment is prescribed and monitored by an ENT specialist. If foreign objects get in, you should also consult a doctor. You can get rid of water that has gotten into your ear on your own - it can be easily evacuated if you tilt your head, creating conditions for it to flow out.
Drug therapy
A list of special medications for the treatment of a disease can only be issued by a doctor. Treatment for seemingly identical otitis may differ, if only because of the presence or absence of perforation of the eardrum. Common to all cases is the appointment of vasoconstrictor drops in the nose. They help relieve swelling in the Eustachian tube. Vasoconstrictor drops include:
- Naphthyzin;
- Nazol;
- Galazolin;
- Sanorin.
The following medications are often used to treat otitis media:
- Ear drops with antibiotics – Cipropharm, Normax, Otofa.
- Combined drops - Sofradex (antibiotic and corticosteroids anesthetize), Candibiotic (antibiotic, antifungal component and lidocaine anesthetize, treat fungus).
- Antiseptic – Miramistin.
- Ointments against fungus – Clotrimazole, Pimafucin.
Doctors prescribe antibiotics in tablets or injections in severe cases, for example, when otitis media appears against the background of a sore throat. Physiotherapy, Politzer blowing, and pneumomassage of the eardrum are prescribed in parallel with drug treatment. In severe cases - eardrum bypass or paracentesis, catheterization of the auditory tubes.
Removing traffic jams
Earwax plugs appear more often in children, since the child’s ear canal is not yet fully developed. It is narrower than in adults, so the risk of earwax accumulation, which creates a plug, is much higher. Diagnosing a plug in the ear is simple: there is discomfort and itching in the ear, hearing acuity decreases, and the patient feels stuffy. There are several ways to get rid of an ear plug:
- rinsing (done by a doctor);
- blowing;
- removal with hydrogen peroxide solution;
- treatment with special preparations (drops) or phytosuppositories.
You cannot do the washing and blowing procedure yourself; only doctors will remove the plug correctly. Trying to clear the plug yourself by blowing your ear can be dangerous. If you damage your eardrum, you can go deaf. At home, you can safely remove the plug in the following ways:
- Drops like A-Cerumen or Remo-Vax need to be dripped for several days, according to the instructions. They dissolve earwax, so they facilitate easy removal of the plug. Before use, consult a doctor, as components may cause individual intolerance.
- Hydrogen peroxide. Apply peroxide as drops for several days until the plug is completely dissolved and its particles are washed out of the ear canal. A drop of peroxide should be kept in the ear canal for up to 10 minutes. The fizz from the peroxide may cause discomfort, but it is minor.
- Ear candles. Candles made using natural wax and propolis help draw out earwax and warm up the ears. They can be used even if your ears hurt a lot. The pain begins to go away after the first procedure. A candle can replace a warm compress if your ear is cold.
Allergic rhinitis
This condition occurs especially often in childhood. The child’s immunity is highly sensitive to various types of allergens: pollen, food products, and medications. In a situation where a foreign protein structure enters the body through the upper respiratory tract, it settles on the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx, causing inflammation and swelling of the surrounding tissues.
These pathological changes lead to the development of allergic rhinitis with copious mucus discharge from the nose (severe runny nose), lacrimation, severe difficulty breathing and other unpleasant symptoms. In addition, against the background of swelling of the nasopharynx, the appearance of symptoms of ear congestion is noted due to the blocking of the entrance of the auditory tubes by hyperplastic tissues.
Neurological diseases
This group of syndromes is a common cause of decreased visual acuity. Therefore, if your ears are blocked, you should pay attention to the state of the nervous system. Thus, the main diseases that can cause disruption of the functioning of the hearing aid are vegetative-vascular dystonia and osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. It is worth saying that the clinical picture of these syndromes is often accompanied by headaches and darkening of the eyes.
The mechanism of ear congestion in neurological diseases has not been sufficiently studied. However, it is assumed that the main reason for the development of this and many other symptoms is a violation of the blood supply to the nerves innervating the components of the auditory analyzer. Congestion in this situation can be eliminated only by getting rid of the primary disease.
Diagnostics
If you constantly have blocked ears, then you should analyze in what environment the problem arises, what precedes it, and whether there are other accompanying unpleasant sensations. The following factors are warning signs and reasons to consult a doctor:
- Ear congestion lasts for a long time;
- there is noise in the ears;
- pain occurs;
- Along with this, the person feels dizzy and nauseated.
Diagnosis of the disease by a specialist takes place in several subsequent stages. The initial examination is carried out by an ENT specialist using special instruments. This stage allows you to determine the condition of the outer part of the hearing aid, as well as immediately identify the presence of foreign objects in it or pathological changes.
If necessary, the doctor can perform procedures such as audiometry or magnetic resonance imaging.
The first involves testing hearing for acuity and other indicators that have a direct impact on the auditory analyzer. The second, in turn, makes it possible to see a tumor on the auditory nerve. Often, a biopsy is performed during diagnosis - the doctor takes samples of cartilage tissue from the patient for analysis. In order to rule out other diseases, the doctor may refer the patient for examination to other specialists.
The above diagnostic methods will help identify the lesion and understand which part of the ear affects congestion in it. A comprehensive examination by a specialist will allow you to successfully fight the disease and avoid extremely undesirable and serious consequences, and your personal conviction in the presence of wax plugs should not become an obstacle to qualified help.
Colds
If the upper respiratory tract is affected by the inflammatory process, swelling of the nasal and pharyngeal mucosa occurs. As a result, the entrance to the auditory tube is blocked, which can impair the ventilation of the ear cavities. Symptoms of congestion due to a runny nose or cold appear especially intense in the morning after sleep. In this case, no pathological changes occur in the ear canals, and the decrease in hearing acuity is temporary and, as a rule, resolves after the symptoms of a cold subside.
Forecast
With rational exercise, health problems do not arise. The main prevention, which will allow you to avoid ear congestion with a high percentage of probability, is suitable exercise, the correct balance of work and rest, as well as nutrition.
If congestion is caused by a disease, then it must first be completely cured. After a follow-up examination with a doctor, it will be decided whether you can continue to practice. It is best to arrange a kind of “quarantine” after recovery, which will allow the body to fully recover from the illness and gain strength.
Deviated nasal septum
This disease can occur at any age and provoke the development of many other unpleasant symptoms. So, in a normal situation, air circulates freely in the maxillary sinuses and other nasal cavities, preventing the proliferation of pathogenic flora. When the nasal septum is deviated, the supply of oxygen is limited, which promotes the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms in these areas. Over time, the inflammatory process spreads to the nasopharynx, which leads to a decrease in hearing acuity.
What to do if your ear is blocked
Episodic manifestations of this kind of unpleasant symptoms, as a rule, do not cause concern for the patient’s health. In this situation, doctors recommend regularly cleaning the ear canal with ear sticks and promptly treating diseases of the upper respiratory tract. In case signs of congestion appear after swimming, tilt your head several times in the appropriate direction. Due to the pressure difference, the remaining liquid will come out and the unpleasant symptoms will disappear.
If there is severe itching due to the presence of wax plugs, experts advise dripping a few drops of peroxide or warm olive oil into the ear canal. Remember that introducing any substances into the ear canal in order to eliminate pathological (purulent) discharge is strictly prohibited. Conditions of this kind require immediate contact with a specialist who will examine the ears and prescribe adequate treatment for the resulting syndrome.
Useful tips: how to exercise properly
To feel good, you need to exercise properly - then it will bring benefits and not harm. The first thing to consider is that the loads must be selected taking into account the patient’s preparedness. You need to start with simple exercises and a small number of approaches; you need to increase the load gradually. Only then will the result be noticeable, and there will be no harm to health.
The workout should consist of three parts - warm-up, strength training and stretching:
- Warm-up is necessary to prepare the muscles and heart for the load, to gradually move from a calm state to active work.
- Strength exercises are the main part of training. It is due to them that muscle strength and relief are formed. The load during this stage should gradually increase, reach a peak and decrease.
- The third part is stretching. Depending on the goals of the workout, it can take from 10 minutes to half the class time. Not only promotes muscle elasticity and body flexibility, but also allows you to smoothly reduce the load. After stretching, it is much easier to return to a calm state. At the end of the session, you need a few minutes of peace - you can sit or lie in a comfortable position, relax and completely come to a calm state.
Folk remedies
Elimination of ear canal congestion is possible only after getting rid of the problem that led to the development of this unpleasant symptom. However, you can speed up the process using folk remedies. Remember that the use of any recommendations from healers should be discussed with your doctor first. Otherwise, you risk, in addition to the main disease, getting many other problems. Among the huge number of folk remedies for getting rid of ear congestion, the following can be particularly highlighted:
- Warming compresses. Any such procedures should be carried out only if you are completely sure that there are no purulent or inflammatory processes in the ear. It is recommended to warm up with camphor alcohol. For this purpose, gauze or a cotton swab is moistened in the specified composition, wrung out a little and applied to the auricle. The duration of one session is about 20 minutes. It is recommended to carry out warming three times a day until the condition improves.
- Inhalation with decoctions of medicinal herbs. 2 tbsp. l. pour dry raw materials with cold water and bring to a boil. Then, covered with a towel, breathe in the steam emanating from the container with the medicinal decoction. Carry out inhalations twice a day for a week until the buzzing (ringing) in your ears stops.
- Washing with saline solution. This popular advice is used if your ears periodically become blocked due to a runny nose. The procedure is carried out by intranasal administration of a hypertonic solution. The latter is prepared at the rate of 2 tsp. salt per glass of water. The procedure for washing the nasal passages is carried out using a pipette several times a day.
Effect of pressure on the ears
Many people suffer from heart and vascular diseases. In this case, the fundamental factor becomes the level of blood pressure.
A person’s well-being, the exacerbation of the disease - all this depends on weather changes (that is, there is a direct connection between a person’s internal pressure and atmospheric pressure).
Changing barometer readings affects not only sick people, but also healthy people.
In a weather-dependent person, the ears become blocked at both high and low pressure. In medicine, there are the concepts of “meteopathy” and “meteolability”, which mean a person’s constant sensitivity to weather changes.
For meteorologists, the change of cyclones and anticyclones is disastrous; their well-being gives serious concern to doctors.
External
What poses the greatest danger to the ears is a high or low atmospheric front; at what pressure they are laid; when you hear ringing or extraneous noises in your ears - these are questions that are often asked in the press and on the Internet.
External pressure depends on the specific region and time of year.
A sharp increase in the atmospheric front is a difficult test for hypertensive patients. At this time, cases of hypertensive crises become more frequent.
A low atmospheric front means rain or snow, wet damp weather, gray skies, low clouds. The arrival of a cyclone is the time when the condition of hypotensive patients worsens.
There are several aspects of the influence of external pressure on a person’s hearing and general condition:
- A small change in pressure does not adversely affect the hearing aid.
- The pressure at the starting and ending points can be very different (but provided that it changes smoothly, no painful conditions arise).
During a quiet walk up a not too high mountain or downhill, the hearing aid does not experience any stress - changes occur gradually. Then the body has time to adapt to the changed situation.
Painful conditions occur with sudden changes in pressure. In this case, the eardrum is pressed deep into the tympanic cavity. In turn, pressure also increases in the Eustachian tube and, as a result, blood circulation is disrupted and swelling of the mucous membrane lining the Eustachian tube develops.
A sharp decrease in pressure acts through the cochlear window on the membranous labyrinth of the ear, and this leads to imbalance and air embolism of blood vessels.
Adaptation of the body occurs faster in stable, stable weather. Problems begin when frosts give way to thaws, when heat is replaced by prolonged rains. Such changes occur several times per season.
A sharp change in weather or climate is accompanied by congestion in the head - temporal or occipital - region. With such sudden changes, the ears become blocked and headaches occur, even in those people whose blood pressure is normal.
Internal
Internal pressure is an individual physiological indicator, which depends on the force with which the blood flow presses on the walls of blood vessels.
The onset of hypertension is considered to be an increase in values to 140/90. Critical values are 200/100.
Low blood pressure (BP) starts at 100/60.
During a hypertensive crisis, due to uneven blood flow to the middle ear, the nerve endings are excited. That is why arterial hypertension is accompanied by noise and ringing in the ears.
With hypotension, a different picture is observed. Blood accumulates in the dilated veins, small vessels stretch, putting pressure on the hearing analyzer.
Medicines
Before using this or that medicine, it is extremely important to understand why your ears are clogged. Thus, a decrease in hearing acuity can be a symptom of serious diseases (hypertension, VSD attack). As a rule, such conditions, among other things, are accompanied by dizziness, nausea, severe pain and other syndromes. In addition, the answer to the question of why your ear is blocked may be an ear infection. In such a situation, treatment should be aimed at eliminating pathogenic flora. In general, the following drugs are used to relieve ear congestion:
- Otipax. The components of this drug successfully cope with inflammatory processes. Therefore, Otipax is widely used to combat otitis media and ear congestion. The drug does not have a dissolving effect on sulfur plugs.
- Garazon. Antibacterial ear drops used to treat otitis media and eczema of the mucous membrane of the ear canal. Not used for defects of the eardrum.
- Otinum. Has antimicrobial and analgesic effects. Can be used to soften wax plugs. The drug should not be used if the integrity of the eardrum is suspected.
