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Sound Therapy for Blocked Ears

Blocked ear sensation is the result of the air pressure on either side of your ear drum not being equal. Since this condition is so common with air travel, the blocked ears feeling is commonly known as "aeroplane ear".

A permanently blocked ear is due to air being unable to move through the Eustachian tube. This is caused either by the Eustachian tube being blocked by mucous, or a faulty muscle in the ear.

For chronic cases of blocked ear, Sound Therapy can rehabilitate your ear muscles to enable the Eustachian tube to open and close properly again.

Which parts of the ear are affected?

Have you even noticed that when you swallow, your ears make a small "click" or popping sound? This occurs because an air bubble has travelled from the back of your throat, along your Eustachian tube, to your middle ear.

The eardrum is a membrane, like a piece of skin, which blocks the entry to the middle ear. Air can't enter the middle ear through the eardrum. Air needs to move through the Eustachian tube to keep the air pressure the same on both sides of the eardrum. Normally the Eustachian tube is closed, but it can open to allow air through. If the Eustachian tube gets blocked, air cannot get in and out of the middle ear. The resulting pressure imbalance causes the feeling of a blocked ear.

What causes blocked ears?

There are a variety of reasons why the Eustachian tube can become blocked or obstructed.

Rapid changes of pressure

A temporary ear blockage can be common when experiencing rapid changes of pressure as a result of changing altitude, such as:

• taking off or landing in a plane
• driving up or down a hill or mountain
• riding in an elevator
• diving deep in a pool or scuba diving

If you are unable to "pop" the blockage in your ears to equalise the pressure, your ear blockage can quickly go from being uncomfortable to being very painful, as the pressure difference causes your ear drum to stretch. This is why babies tend to scream when a plane takes off or lands.

A stuffy nose

The most common cause of ear blockage is when you have a cold and your Eustachian tube gets blocked with mucous. In fact, any condition which creates extra mucous in your nose can lead to blockage of the ear.

Sinus and throat infections and nasal allergies such as hay fever are also causes of blocked ear, as the swollen membranes block the opening of the Eustachian tube.

This annoying feeling of a blocked ear accompanying a blocked nose generally disappears once the cold or infection is better.

If you suffer from excess mucous on an ongoing basis, see how to unblock your sinuses.

Faulty muscles

The opening and closing of the Eustachian tube is controlled involuntarily by four tiny muscles, one of which is a branch of the hammer muscle inside the middle ear. If the hammer muscle has become weak or over contracted, or tends to go into spasm, it will not have good tonality, and it cannot do its job correctly.

A rare, more permanent condition is "patulous Eustachian tube", which occurs when the Eustachian tube is permanently open, yet it feels as though the ear is permanently blocked.

Problems associated with blocked ears

When the pressure inside the middle ear does not match the air pressure outside the ear drum, the drum cannot vibrate as freely as it should. This affects your hearing, making sounds appear muffled. If you can't hear your own voice properly, your speaking and singing ability are likewise impacted.

Blocked ears may also affect balance (since the balance mechanism is located inside your ears), and may contribute to tinnitus.

If the Eustachian tube remains blocked, fluid will seep into the middle ear from the membranes that line it, in an attempt to overcome the vacuum that is created from the lack of air. This is called "fluid in the ear", or serous otitis.

How to unblock your ears and sinuses

For acute cases of blocked ear

For a temporary blockage, make a concerted effort to swallow or yawn to help "pop" the blockage in your ears. To help with this, you can:

• Avoid sleeping during take off and landing - ask someone to wake you up before the plane starts to descend, and wake any children travelling with you as well
• Chew gum or suck on a sweet
• Give a baby a feed or a pacifier to suck on during take off and landing during a flight to help reduce the pain they experience from blocked ears

If yawning or swallowing doesn't help, another method useful method is to take a breath and then with your mouth closed, pinch your nostrils closed with your fingers, and try to blow air through your nose gently (like you would if you were blowing your nose with a tissue).

If you still can't unblock your ears, the methods below for unblocking your sinuses may help.

For chronic cases of blocked ear

If your blocked ear problem persists, you may need to seek help from a health professional. First, attend to any sinus or excess mucous problems.

Once you have ruled out or fixed mucous and inflammatory blockages, you can look at toning your ear muscles. Sound Therapy, a therapeutic listening program which uses specially recorded classical music on a portable player with headphones to correct disorders relating to the ear, is particularly effective for overcoming the blocked ear sensation, as the fluctuating sounds provided in Sound Therapy exercise and re-tone the ear muscles and restores their flexibility, returning full function to the hammer muscle and thus making equalization of the middle ear air pressure easy and automatic.

Learn more about what Sound Therapy is and how it rehabilitates the ear.

Unblocking your sinuses

The sinuses are hollow chambers inside the head lined with mucous membrane. Tensions, swelling and imbalances in the pressure chambers of the ear can exacerbate inflammation of the sinuses.

Temporary relief may be achieved through the use of a natural decongestant such as peppermint oil.

Sinus problems may also respond to dietary changes, in particular avoiding wheat and dairy products since they can contribute to excess mucous production.

Our listeners have found using Sound Therapy in addition to dietary changes makes a tremendous difference in helping to relieve long term, chronic sinus problems, as consistent use of Sound Therapy aids the harmonious working of the various nerves, muscles and pressure chambers that constitute the ear, nose and throat system.

Learn more about how Sound Therapy stimulates the nerves.