Why are my ears blocked?

Symptoms:

You’ve just taken a flight and as you were descending to land your hearing went fuzzy and even on the ground it hasn’t come back.

Recently your hearing in one ear has become muffled, occasionally you also have ringing in your ears, there’s no pain or discharge.

You swim every day without a swimming cap and you’ve noticed that you get a discharge from your ears after swimming plus some dizziness, pain and a bunged-up feeling.

It could be: An imbalance of air pressure

between your outer and middle ears. This is caused by the descent from 30,000ft and change in cabin pressure.

Wax

which has accumulated in your outer ear, has become hard, and is difficult to dislodge.

Swimmer’s ear

which is an infection of your external ear canal which runs from your eardrum to the outside.

Stop it:

You can “pop” your ears safely by unblocking your Eustachian tube which balances air pressure in front of and behind the eardrum. Close your mouth, pinch your nostrils, breath out forcefully not letting air escape through your mouth or nose.

Ask your pharmacist’s advice for ear drops which will dissolve the wax over several days. With your head on its side put a couple of drops in your outer ear and then a plug of cotton wool to stop them running out. Remove in the morning.

Inform your doctor because you’ll need antibiotic ear drops to get rid of the infection. Wear a swimming cap or ear plugs when you swim.