What Are the Treatments for Pressure in the Ear?

Ear pressure can be caused by allergies, ear infections, a change in pressure or in response to a cold. There are a number of remedies, both at-home and over-the-counter, available to help alleviate your discomfort.

Pressure Change Remedies

• Swallow, yawn or chew gum to "pop" your ears when you experience a sudden change in pressure, like when you take off or land in an airplane.

Antihistamines

• Oral or nasal spray antihistamines can often help reduce ear pressure. The antihistamine will help reduce the symptoms of a cold or allergies which prevents your ear's eustachian tubes, which is the connection between the middle ears and the back of the nose, from becoming irritated.

Decongestants

• Nasal decongestants often alleviate pressure in the ear. The decongestant relieves cold symptoms that may cause the ear pressure. You can try pill or nasal spray decongestants, but to avoid further complications, don't use them for more than five days.

Salt Water

• Purchase a saline or salt-water mixture at the pharmacy and spray this in your nose once or twice a day. This helps to keep your nose clean from substances in the air which may cause allergies to flare up and irritate your eustachian tubes.

Ventilation Tubes

• Ventilation tubes are used only in serious cases of ear pressure to drain fluid from the ear cavity, which removes the feeling of pressure. This is a procedure that would need to be completed by a doctor.

Considerations

• See a doctor if your ear pressure is severe, or if you feel ongoing discomfort that isn't alleviated by at-home or over-the-counter remedies.