What happens if your ears dont pop

There are a number of conditions that can cause the sensation of plugged ears, including fluid in the ear, excess earwax, and congestion. Some problems like sinusitis and tonsillitis may require treatment by a healthcare provider. Ear problems that affect the ability to equalize pressure can be bothersome or even painful. They may get in the way of your enjoyment of activities like traveling by plane and scuba diving. Sometimes you won't know you have a problem until you are already participating in the activity.

If your ears do not pop and you feel like they are clogged or you are experiencing significant ear pain , see a healthcare provider.

You should also see a healthcare provider at once if you have symptoms of a ruptured eardrum. Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Nemours KidsHealth. Ear tube surgery. Reviewed June, Impacted earwax. Department of Health and Human Services. Patulous eustachian tube. Updated February 17, Adenoid hypertrophy in adults: a case series.

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Table of Contents. What Causes the Feeling. How to Pop Your Ears. Why Your Ears Won't Pop. Symptoms of a Ruptured Eardrum. Fluid in the Ear: Overview and More. Congestion Causes and Treatment. Patulous Eustachian Tube: Overview and More. Recap There are a number of possible reasons why you might not be able to pop your ears. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns?

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Related Articles. Retracted Ear Drum Symptoms and Treatment.

How to Relieve Ear Pain. Though only a fraction of the density of our oceans, the atmosphere behaves much the same way. Just as water pressure increases the deeper you go, air pressure increases the closer you get to sea level. We've evolved to be able to shrug off the weight of the atmosphere and our ability to hear actually requires it.

See, sound waves are transmitted from the outer ear to the inner ear through the eardrum. This thin vibrating membrane acts as a barrier to liquids but allows atmospheric reverberations to pass through, however this requires that the air pressure on both sides of the eardrum be roughly equal. Normally, equalizing the pressure between the outer and middle ear is easy. Each inner ear is equipped with a small channel that runs down to the side of your throat known as a Eustachian tube. It's designed specifically to facilitate air to escape from the inner ear into the throat, allowing you to equalize the atmospheric pressure on either side of the eardrum.

These tubes are attached to the tensor veli palatini muscles in your soft palate and are activated automatically whenever you yawn or swallow. That "pop" you hear is the sound of the pressure in your inner ear equalizing.

Now, when you're in a rapidly climbing airplane, air pressure in the cabin will decrease while the pressure in the inner ear remains constant. This causes the eardrum to bulge outward. Share this Post. Logging In Leave a Reply Cancel reply. Wahida Benferhat. View April 21, Jaz Bovey. Leisha Lingelbach. Ann Marie McKenna. Dorothy Lopez. Loading Comments