How to pop your ears on a plane
A three-minute lesson from Dr. Michael H. McDonald, an ear, nose and throat surgeon from the University of Wisconsin, on a gentler and more controlled way to clear your ears.
Prefer YouTube? Watch it there.
The method, step by step
Dr. McDonald recommends the Toynbee maneuver. It uses your tongue and a swallow instead of a hard blow, so you can be precise about how much pressure you apply.
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Pinch your nostrils shut
Use your thumb and finger, the same way you would for any ear-popping technique.
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Exhale gently against your pinched nose
Gently is the point. The upper part of your nose should flare just a little.
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Trap the pressure with your tongue, then pump it up
Squeeze your tongue against the roof of your mouth to raise the pressure. If you are doing it right, you will feel the pressure in your fingertips as your tongue moves.
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Swallow
As you swallow, push your tongue against your soft palate. Swallowing triggers the muscles that open the Eustachian tube at the same moment the pressure is up.
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Repeat until the pressure is gone
It may take more than one pump. You will usually hear a pop or a crackle when it works.
If only one ear clears
Plug the cleared ear firmly with your index finger and repeat. This directs the pressure to the ear that is still blocked.
Why your ears plug when you fly
Usually no trouble
Pressure outside the eardrum drops, and the air behind it bulges the eardrum outward. You may feel plugged or hear a little less, but the middle ear is built to vent this without effort.
The hard part
Pressure outside the eardrum rises and squeezes it inward. If it does not equalize, it can cause pain, bleeding, or fluid in the middle ear that can take several weeks to clear.
It is also why babies so often cry during descent. It hurts, and they cannot fix it on their own.
Why not just pinch and blow?
Pinching your nose and blowing hard is the usual advice. It is called the Valsalva maneuver, and it does work. The catch is where the pressure comes from: the large muscles of your abdomen and chest.
It is possible to push too hard
Dr. McDonald knows of at least two patients who overshot with a hard Valsalva and ruptured an eardrum. The tongue-and-swallow method above is much easier to control.
About Dr. McDonald
Michael H. McDonald, MD, is an otolaryngologist (ENT surgeon) from the University of Wisconsin. In this video he explains the technique he recommends for clearing your ears safely during a flight.
Read the full transcript
Hi. My name is Dr. Mike McDonald. I'm an otolaryngologist, or ENT surgeon, from the University of Wisconsin, and I'd like to talk to you about how you pop your ears.
Typically, when people are flying, they notice pressure changes in the ear. When you ascend, the pressure on the outside of the eardrum drops and the air that's behind the eardrum bulges outward. This causes a plugged sensation and may cause a slight diminishing of the hearing. Now, the middle ear is well designed to solve this problem without really any effort, and most people don't have problems with the ascent portion of an airplane flight.
On the other hand, when you're coming down, there can be some difficulty equalizing the pressure. As you're descending, the air pressure on the outside of the eardrum is increasing, and that presses against the eardrum, squeezing it inwards. Sometimes this can proceed and can cause damage to the middle ear. It can cause bleeding. It can cause fluid buildup in the middle ear. Sometimes it can take several weeks before that clears. And if you've ever been on an airplane during the descent and you hear a baby crying, they may be experiencing this, which is very painful, and you can have a little more sympathy for the mom.
So what I propose is a variation on the normal recommendation, and that's the Valsalva maneuver. That's where you pinch your nostrils shut and you blow hard against the closed nostrils. You can see when I do that, that I'm flaring the upper portion of the nose. Now, this pressure is generated by the large muscles in your abdomen and your chest, and on some occasions you can push too hard. I know of at least two patients who have overshot and ruptured their eardrums.
What I propose is something called the Toynbee maneuver. It's much more controlled, you can be very precise, and hopefully it will not cause any injury to yourself. The Toynbee maneuver consists of a similar start. You pinch the nostrils shut and you exhale gently against the nostrils, and you can see the upper part of the nose flares a little bit. Then you use your tongue to trap that pressure there, and squeezing the tongue against the roof of your mouth, you can increase that pressure. If you're doing it right, you'll be able to feel the pressure in your fingertips with movement of your tongue. So I'm pumping that up.
Simultaneously, as you swallow, you push your tongue against the soft palate. By increasing the pressure and simultaneously triggering the muscles that open the Eustachian tube, you're likely to have a much more effective effort at unplugging your ears. You can do this sequentially until there's full relief of the pressure. It may take more than one pump. Typically, you'll hear some popping or crackling at the time if this is effective.
I hope this works for you. Thank you.