Your ears, nose, and throat are all tightly connected, and if something is affecting any particular part of that region, everything suffers. Experiencing a painful episode of sinus congestion is no fun for anyone, and when sinus pressure causes pain, your ears can also be affected, causing dizziness and a sensation that makes your ears feel muffled or clogged.
Fortunately, our McAllen ENT, Dr. Frank R. Glatz, and his team of sinus relief specialists at the Glatz Group know of several tips that you can do at home for relief. Should your ear congestion progress into pain or come with a fever, however, it is best to come and see us for treatment.
When your Eustachian tube is blocked or stops functioning properly, it can trap fluids within the middle ear. When the Eustachian tube gets clogged, you may feel pressure in your ear, muffling your hearing and causing ear pain. Eventually, this could turn into a painful ear infection.
Any condition that affects your sinuses can cause ear congestion, including:
Ear congestion symptoms can also be caused by other issues in your middle ear or the ear canal that affects the eardrum--also referred to as the tympanic membrane. If you have experienced symptoms and need relief, visit our office today.
There are different appropriate remedies depending on what the cause is. When it has to do with sinus-related problems like the common cold, flu, allergies, sinusitis, or irritants (e.g. tobacco smoke), here are a few things you can do to treat it:
With regards to fluid buildup, an afternoon of fun and sun at the pool or a quick shower can get water inside your ear, causing your ear to be congested. Try these methods to release the water from your ear:
From an overall perspective, the ear is quite a fascinating part of our body. Glands within the ear canal produce earwax, called cerumen, that ultimately protects, lubricates, and self-cleans the area. Normally, chewing and other typical jaw motions shift the earwax out of the ear, where it dries and flakes off, but sometimes, when we try to clean out the earwax by sticking a q tip in our ear, it can create a blockage, causing symptoms of ear congestion. Some simple solutions to get rid of wax buildup from your ears would include:
As for when you are traveling, you can avoid or alleviate airplane ear congestion (caused by air pressure) by chewing gum or hard candy, swallowing, or yawning during takeoff and landing.
If you think there may be a foreign object stuck in your ear canal, however, don’t try to take it out by yourself. Either see your ENT doctor in McAllen immediately or go to urgent care somewhere nearby.
Ear congestion is not uncommon and can often be efficiently resolved at home with the help of home remedies or over-the-counter treatments.
Should your ear congestion last more than two weeks or be followed by a fever, fluid drainage, loss of hearing, balance issues, or severe ear pain, come pay a visit to your local McAllen ENT that we can guarantee you’ll be ‘Glatz’ to see--and hear once your problem is resolved.
Having an abnormal, sharp pain in your ears may be a clear indicator that you are suffering from what is known as an earache.
While earaches are very common in both children and adults and may make you feel uncomfortable, they can easily be treated with over-the-counter medication and subside within a couple of days. If untreated, however, you risk the chance of developing recurring symptoms and turn it into something worse.
Today, our Weslaco otolaryngologist, Dr. Frank R. Glatz of the Glatz Group, explores what may be causing your earaches and recommends what services are effective at curing this painful nuisance.
Aside from some of the more obvious symptoms such as ear pain, both children and adults may suffer from some of the same symptoms that are involved with earaches, including, but not limited to:
In more severe cases, sufferers of earaches may feel:
If you have experienced any of the minor to major earache symptoms, reach out to the Glatz Group today to schedule an appointment.
A bevy of circumstances exist that can cause an earache, but the most common include:
1. Excessive Earwax
Even though earwax is supposed to be your ear canal’s top defender, an excessive amount of it can cause you ear discomfort. If left untreated, the earwax can turn into a blockage, trapping bacteria in your ear that can cause an infection.
Although earwax blockages can be treated easily, an attempt to clean it out can go the wrong way. If you stick a cotton swab too far into the ear canal, it could possibly worsen the current condition and become extremely sensitive.
Looking into over-the-counter ear drops will reduce the severity of an earache caused by an overproduction of earwax and can, in time, help clean out the impacted areas in a natural way.
2. Circumstantial Infections
Several different infections, sometimes even outside of the ears, can also play a role in causing earaches. These types of infections include:
This type of infection usually occurs when a cold, allergy, or a sinus infection blocks the eustachian tube within your middle ear. This can lead to negative pressure, causing pain and swelling.
3. Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Syndrome
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome is known as the discomfort or pain within the hinge of the jawbone next to your ears. This is commonly caused by ongoing teeth grinding or even from an existing arthritis condition.
It is treatable through over-the-counter medication or any other form of treatment that has prescribed by our Weslaco ENT doctor of the Glatz Group.
4. Air Pressure
While it is not as common as the previous causes per se, it may be a factor in certain instances.
During ascension--regardless of whether you are riding an elevator or traveling via airplane--your ears might not be used to the elevation and can begin to pop. This pop can feel unusual and can lead to irritation and slight hearing loss but after a few moments, your ear pressure should ease out and restore to normal.
If your ears don’t pop, however, it could cause fluid to build up within the ear, causing infection and earaches. In this worst-case scenario, that buildup of fluids can lead to a perforation of the eardrum, resulting in hearing loss.
If your earache symptoms last longer than a few days, do not hesitate to schedule an appointment with our Weslaco otolaryngologist, Dr. Frank R. Glatz, of the Glatz Group.
Our sinus relief specialists can properly assist you and examine your current symptoms in order to prescribe the right medication and treatments you need to take care of your or your child’s earaches.
