Blocked Ears & Sinuses and Sound Therapy

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. The movement of air along the Eustachian tube is necessary to keep the air pressure the same on both sides of the eardrum. If the air pressure within your ear is not equal, the ear feels blocked.

The sensation of blocked ear is caused by the inability of the Eustachian tube to open and allow movement of air. If the Eustachian tube gets blocked, air cannot get in and out.

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.

Rapid changes of pressure

You may have experienced a temporary ear blockage 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.

Because the condition is so common with air travel, the blocked ear sensation is commonly known as "aeroplane ear".

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.

What causes blocked ears?

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

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.

Faulty muscles

The opening and closing of the Eustachian tube is controlled involuntarily by the hammer muscle, one of the muscles 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.

How to unblock your ears and sinuses

Unblocking your ears

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).

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

If your blocked ear problem persists, you may need to seek help from a health professional. Sound Therapy is particularly effective for overcoming the blocked ear sensation.

Unblocking your 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 that Sound Therapy is an additional support to dietary chanage that makes a tremendous difference in helping to relieve long term, chronic sinus problems.

Sound Therapy

Sound Therapy often proves to be the most effective way of overcoming the blocked ear sensation as it works to restore full function to the hammer muscle. Sound Therapy exercises and re-tones the ear muscles and restores their flexibility, restoring the function of the hammer muscle and making equalization of the middle ear air pressure easy and automatic.

Consistent use of Sound Therapy eases the harmonious working of the various nerves, muscles and pressure chambers that constitute the ear, nose and throat system. There is a good chance therefore that Sound therapy may alleviate chronic sinus problems.