ear congestion relief

[Runningmommy]

mamas, my ear hurts!! it crackles when I swallow, left is worse than the right, hurts worse when I blow my nose no matter how gentle I try to do it. Ouch! ear candle is the only thing that I can think of (I've tried it several times in the past and it has never worked), and I've been trying ear and neck massaging. anything else? thanks

[kerc]

I burst my eardrum last year: not fun. Drainage was a huge issue.

antibiotics?

But meds didn't help once the infection was gone, the dang fluid was still making me miserable.

cranialsacral therapy. That's what I did.

[1jooj]

My mom always dropped warmed sweet almond oil in our ears when they hurt.

I've heard the heat of a hair dryer can help...???

Feel better, RM!

[luv-my-boys]

I would be very careful trying to get your ear to "pop" if you have fluid in it because it can blow your ear drum and if your ear drum is already on the very of bursting it might help it along...although once its burst the pain normally decreases because the pressure is diminished but you open up to other problems with a burst ear drum.

I have frequent ear congestion due to allergies. some of the things that I do are to take a decongestant that can help your tubes drain and hopefully ahve some of the fluid drain out.

I place a warm washcloth on my ear so that the warm steam and rise up into my ear canal.

if you know your drum isnt burst warmed oil like olive oil placed in your ear can be soothing.

I also swear by sleeping on an incline propped up with pillows to help with "drainage"

if you want to wait it out there are available numbing ear drops that are rx that work GREAT to at least get some relief until the pressure subsides. It dosent treat infection or fluid but is only a numbing drop. I have had to use them several times when the pain/pressure was so severe by ear drum was literally being pulled from it.

[bec]

I don't have any ideas, but wanted to give you some sympathy! Ouch!!!

[loftmama]

ow, i've had my ears candled once and i remember it helping. sorry, rm.

[dairy2dogs]

when I had fulid in my ear that wouldn't clear for over a month and was very painful I got accupuncture (after trying lot of other things first). It worked.

Other things to try: hylands ear ache tablets, garlic oil in the ear, chiropractic, remove dairy from diet.

[organicmidwestmama]

it might just ee a buildup of excessive ear wax, which is easily remedied by having a nurse lavage the ear, or i believe you can buy ear lavage tools for home use as well. basically water is gently pumped into the ear canal and pushes out the wax. its not usually painful, its cheap and helps a lot if your pain is due to wax.

[Purple*Lotus]

I would keep up the massaging to promote draining, and try the warm setting on the hair dryer. I hope you are better soon

[Runningmommy]

Thank you for the hugs and suggestions! I've been doing the decongestants still, massaging, sleeping propped up. Not much better, but not worse. I need to try the hair dryer. Not blowing in the ear, right? would a warm, moist wash cloth work in a simiilar fashion?

[Purple*Lotus]

I would blow towards the ear but not directly in it. Just the warm air could help get things moving for you.

[Runningmommy]

great, thank you, I'll give it a try.

[chaoticzenmom]

Have you tried an onion poultice? I've heard those work great, although I've never tried it.

When I get ear an ear infection starting, I stop all dairy/citrus. I take a decongestant and put Grapeseed extract in my ear. That usually does the trick.

If you're experiencing allergies which is causing this mucous buildup, then some type of allergy medicine might help (claritin, zycam?) If it were me, I'd take mucinex and put grapeseed extract in my ear. Then, I'd call a chiropractor and see if they can do an adjustment to help.