blowing out your ear
 

i have a blocked up ear, and i'm trying to do that thing where you pinch your nose and blow (i think its called blowing out your anterior chamber?). anyway, i know its ok to do this once in a while, but is there a point in how many times in an hour or day it becomes excessive or harmful?

Stop at the sign of blood......

Ok, seriously now. From experience if you do this a few times and it works, great. If you do it a few times, and then a while later you feel the need to do it again, and then again.... I would say stop because you may have an infection or some wax that requires attention. Don't do this all day long. And don't blow too hard.

Every time you do it, you take the chance of tearing your eardrum. I question that it's "ok" to do at all, let alone periodically or even daily.

If it's continually blocked up, you may try a wax removal kit of some kind, or see your doctor about it. "Blowing out" your ears is dangerous for your eardrum.

When you try to do that, what you're actually doing is evening out the pressure between your throat and inner ear by popping your Eustachian tube briefly. This tube can become inflamed and infected when you have a cold, causing it to feel swollen as if there is a pressure inequality. But if your Eustachian tube is inflamed, it's really pointless to try and do this, as you can force mucus and bacteria into your ear if you're not careful.

NSAIDS can help some with the inflammation, but the best thing I've found to work on swollen Eustachian tubes is prescription Flonase, because it's an inhaled corticosteroid. If you live in an area where it's available, pseudoephedrine will also help with the swelling and congestion in your ear.

I would stop blowing on it and attempt to treat the swelling that's most likely causing it. If you have access to medical care, I would see a doctor about it.

Can't agree more. Getting to the problem is much better than treating a symptom.

The only time you should need to perform this act is when you are scuba diving or free diving. Then it is done every 10 feet or soo to equalize the pressure of the water. Other than that, yawning or chewing gum should be enough - like on a plane.

I find that just opening my mouth really wide, or just a good hard swallow takes care of the pressure in my ears. That said, if it's happening for no apparent reason i.e. you're not going up or down a hill, then you should have it checked out by a physician.

/slight threadjack: While doing some fact-checking on my previous response, I discovered that I am evidently part of a special population that has the ability to open and close my Eustachian tubes at will. I just flex some muscles in my head and...pop.

But yeah, you shouldn't have to force your ears to equalize; if they aren't equalizing by wiggling your jaw, opening your mouth wide, or yawning, there is probably inflammation involved, and then it's a good idea to see a doctor, as it could be the beginnings of an ear infection.

Wow - I didn't know it was something special. I thought everyone could just do it. :surprised:

Do you perhaps know what the percentage is? (Yes, I'm blatantly trying to find out just how "special" I am.)

:p

I can do it too. So you can't be THAT special :D

I can do it by clenching my jaw and it happens frequently when I yawn. I thought it was because of my chronic ear infecttions-they scarred my eardrums.
To the OP, if your ears are just blocked and you don't have any other problems, just put a drop of peroxide in each ear(dipping a QTip in the peroxide is a good way to get it-you don't need more than a drop-then just squeeze that into the canal). Keep the ear upward, listen for a crackling. When the crackling slows down, hold a tissue under the ear and tilt it downward. Do this every other day or so and it should dissolve the wax that's blocking you up.
Save the blowing for when you fly or scuba dive.

thx everyone for the advice. i finally up and went to the clinic yesterday after having tried murine drops over the wknd. it turned out i was being a bit of a pussy because the box of drops said "gently flush ear out after drops."

they did a big bazooka flushout of my ear with peroxided 5times, but after the 1st one my hearing was back to normal.

so i am myself again, and thanks.

thx everyone for the advice. i finally up and went to the clinic yesterday after having tried murine drops over the wknd. it turned out i was being a bit of a pussy because the box of drops said "gently flush ear out after drops."

they did a big bazooka flushout of my ear with peroxided 5times, but after the 1st one my hearing was back to normal.

so i am myself again, and thanks.

ack sorry!@

i only hit post twice when it didn't work and it machine gun posted on me!