OkByMe
Contributor
- Messages
- 599
- Reaction score
- 202
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
Try this to clear it if chewing gum does not help. If it is a positive pressure block - Glass of water... Take a mouthful you can easily swallow it all at once... just as you swallow, pinch your nose closed. You may have to experiment to get the timing right. What this does it put a negative pressure in your Eustachian tubes and burp them so to speak. If one is blocked, you will feel the eardrum of one that is not blocked pull in. That one will stabilize at atmospheric pressure. You may have to try this several times while extending your neck in different positions.
If it is a negative pressure block, you will need a nose bulb. You do the same thing except just as you swallow, put the bulb in one nostril and pinch the other shut and squeeze the bulb. That should put a little positive pressure in the tubes. Conversely, you will feel some movement if doing it correctly.
I know a lot of people call this "getting water in your ears", but that can't happen unless you have a hole in your eardrum or get water forced up your Eustachian tubes. About the only way that happens is diving from a good height or a fall while water skiing. Water in the middle ear can be bad news. differing air pressure, not so much unless you can't clear the congestion. Flying or diving can cause barotrauma.
Ear barotrauma: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
.
If it is a negative pressure block, you will need a nose bulb. You do the same thing except just as you swallow, put the bulb in one nostril and pinch the other shut and squeeze the bulb. That should put a little positive pressure in the tubes. Conversely, you will feel some movement if doing it correctly.
I know a lot of people call this "getting water in your ears", but that can't happen unless you have a hole in your eardrum or get water forced up your Eustachian tubes. About the only way that happens is diving from a good height or a fall while water skiing. Water in the middle ear can be bad news. differing air pressure, not so much unless you can't clear the congestion. Flying or diving can cause barotrauma.
Ear barotrauma: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
.