Need quick help - how to relieve pressure in my ear?!?!?!

[oceanbaby]

My right ear is sooo painful with intense pressure right now, and I don't know what to do. It feels like when you've descended in an airplane. I've had a minor lingering cold for the past two weeks, but this just happened today. I took a decongestant, and that didn't work. I'm chewing gum, but nothing. It hurts so bad. Any ideas about what I can do to relieve the pressure?

[my2girlsmama]

Originally Posted by oceanbaby

My right ear is sooo painful with intense pressure right now, and I don't know what to do. It feels like when you've descended in an airplane. I've had a minor lingering cold for the past two weeks, but this just happened today. I took a decongestant, and that didn't work. I'm chewing gum, but nothing. It hurts so bad. Any ideas about what I can do to relieve the pressure?

Take a hair dryer, put on lowest warmest setting, blow into your ear slowly for short intervals.....shoudl relieve the pain a bit and ease pressure. Do you have a decongestant on hand? Take one of those as well.
Good luck. Ihave a lieftime of ear issues to go by so...........

[andreac]

What usually works for me is either yawning or holding my nose closed and trying to blow air out through it (does that make sense?). Good luck!

[LDSmomma6]

Plug your nose with your fingers, ok, squeeze your nose shut with your fingers (if I would have told the 1st to Lindsey, she would be walking around with her fingers up her nose, snorting and laughing), close your mouth, and blow hard. It should relieve the pressure. I just did it. It felt great!

[andreac]

Also, don't blow too hard...start out gently and increase the pressure slowly until you feel the pop. Apparantly if you blow to hard you can pop your eardrum...ouch!!

[my2girlsmama]

Originally Posted by andreac

What usually works for me is either yawning or holding my nose closed and trying to blow air out through it (does that make sense?). Good luck!

Be careful, you can easily rupture the ear drum this way. I did once, and my father did so numerous times.

[jenoline]

try a neti pot; it should help some, even if not completely. You can get the "sinu-cleanse" brand at CVS drugstores (although they don't look as cool as others). and yes, please do be careful using the "hold your nose and blow out" method.

Good luck!

[ombra*luna]

Pour a cup or so of salt into a pan and heat it up until it's very hot, just short of hot enough to burn you. Then pour it into a sock, and put that sock inside another sock, tie the end of the sock closed, and hold it against your ear. The heat soothes and the hot salt attracts moisture enough to get things moving around in there.

Be careful not to burn yourself. I had my brother do this for an earache, and he made the salt too hot, and (OK, why?) left it on his ear even though it was so hot it burned him. That was, of course, my fault.

For some reason, it hadn't occurred to me to warn him that if you smell scorched flesh, don't leave the sock on your ear.

ETA - Also you could try (first, because it's easier) lying on your back on the bed and then hang your head over the side. That causes a pressure change and sometimes that's all you need.

[timneh_mom]

I would try to loosen up your head a bit with the other suggestions, then GENTLY plug your nose and try to blow air through it, it also helps to stretch your neck to either side while doing this. I used to do a lot of scuba diving and that is how you equallize the pressure in your ears while you're going down... I always seemed to have trouble with one side and stretching my neck at the same time would help.

DO NOT FORCE IT though! If you can't get it to let go gently, stop and try some humidity or warm liquids for a while, then try again later.

[oceanbaby]

Thank you for all your suggestions. I am trying all of them. So far nothing has relieved the pressure, but some have made it feel a little better. Is it possible this is an ear infection? I've never experienced this before unrelated to altitude changes.

[shalena]

I have this 24/7. My condition is called eustachian tube disfunction. I've had it since getting pregnant with my son in 2004. I use a nasal spray that helps reduce the swelling in the eustachian tubes (where the pressure builds) and am sometimes able to pop my ears. It totally sucks.

Hopefully you don't have the same thing, and it gets better soon!

[skj474]

I was gonna suggest a decongestant or blowing your nose, but it already been suggested.

Has it resolved yet?

[Melda]

how about some breastmilk in that ear ...

[my2girlsmama]

Originally Posted by shalena

I have this 24/7. My condition is called eustachian tube disfunction. I've had it since getting pregnant with my son in 2004. I use a nasal spray that helps reduce the swelling in the eustachian tubes (where the pressure builds) and am sometimes able to pop my ears. It totally sucks.

Hopefully you don't have the same thing, and it gets better soon!

I get it too in my left ear that I ruined years ago diving in water breaking the eardrums in it a few times.....now it is muffled alot and nothign works, as well I have this stupid condition where my wax doesn't release or come out like everyone's should, so I get dizzy and room-spinning vertigo isues....I have an ear drop that I use so I am used to it now...years ago I thought I was dying. LOL.

[ramlita]

How are you now?

I was going to say several drops of breastmilk or hydrogen peroxide.

[oceanbaby]

I don't know why I didn't think of breastmilk! I am going to try that later.

It is better this morning, but not entirely gone. The tylenol had worn off in the middle of the night and I woke at 3am to searing pain, so I had to take more. Today it is better but not completely gone. It is still a tad stuffed and a little painful, but not enough to take anything.

It's just so weird that this happend. I've never experienced anything like it. Even when flying it's never been this bad. But my right eardrum did burst when I was a baby, so my mom believes that it is compromised and susceptible to problems.

[Ruthla]

A hot pack next to the ear is great for short-term pain relief. I have a rice sock (literally an old sock, filled with raw rice and tied at the end) that I microwave to use as a hot pack.