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Home Remedy for Unstopping Your Ears

Although stopped-up ears seem like relatively simple issues in the realm of medical problems, the feeling of fullness and constant hearing impairment that accompanies a stopped ear can leave the ear's owner feeling annoyed, distracted and frustrated. A number of home remedies exist for curing stopped up ears, and the remedies range from very simple to somewhat complex.

  1. Blow the Ear Canals

    • According to an ear article on Health Guidance, a network of tubes connects the middle and outer ear, and air pressure in these tubes is regulated by both ambient air and the internal Eustachian tube (the tube that connects the inner ear to the throat). When these tubes become clogged or air pressure becomes unbalanced, you may feel a sensation of fullness or a clog inside the ear. Curing this pressure imbalance can be very simple, and requires no tools or medication; to equalize the pressure inside the tubes and clear the condition, you need only to pinch your nose, close your lips and attempt to force air out through the nose. As the air backs up, unable to escape through the pinched nose or closed mouth, it floods into the Eustachian tube and rectifies the unbalanced air pressure issue. You may hear a popping sound, similar to what you may hear when yawning while ascending or descending on an airplane, when the air balance changes.

    Use Hydrogen Peroxide

    • If air pressure equalization fails to clear the stopped ear condition, the ear may be plugged with an abundance of ear wax. While you may initially attempt to clear a wax plug with a cotton swab or small scraping instrument, this action may serve only to push the wax plug deeper into the ear. Instead, a user on the home remedy website Home Remedies for You suggests using a dropper to place hydrogen peroxide inside the ear canal. As the hydrogen peroxide reacts with the ear wax, the individual may hear a boiling or bubbling sound; after several minutes, the hydrogen peroxide will loosen the wax to a point at which it may be washed out of the ear canal with warm water. After a warm water flush, the home remedy user recommends a second flush with rubbing alcohol; this second flush will help eliminate remaining water, peroxide and ear wax residue.

    Irrigate the Ear

    • If equalizing the air pressure inside the ear tubes does not clear the stopped feeling and hydrogen peroxide fails to clear a wax plug, it may be necessary to irrigate the ear canal to remove the wax or water plug. According to holistic remedies website MotherNature.com, you can flush away stubborn wax plugs by filling a syringe with warm water and firmly injecting (squirting) it deep into the ear canal. As the water rapidly exits the ear, it picks up portions of the wax plug and carries them out. Because some plugs may solidify within the ear and resist irrigation, you may choose to treat the wax with common household items like baby oil and even stool softener to help loosen the wax before irrigation.

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