To make your ears pop, you need to open the small tubes that connect your middle ears to the back of your throat. The simplest way is to swallow, yawn, or gently blow against pinched nostrils. These actions force or pull air through the tubes to equalize the pressure on both sides of your eardrum, relieving that stuffy, muffled feeling.
Why Your Ears Need to Pop
You have two eustachian tubes, one on each side of your head, running from your middle ears to the back of your nose and throat. Each tube is roughly 36 millimeters long, partly bone and partly cartilage. Their main job is equalizing air pressure in your middle ear so your eardrum can vibrate normally.
These tubes open briefly every time you swallow or yawn, letting a tiny puff of air in or out. The rest of the time they stay closed to protect your middle ear from bacteria and viruses. When outside pressure changes quickly, like during airplane descent, driving through mountains, or diving underwater, your eustachian tubes can’t keep up. Air pressure pushes your eardrum inward, creating that familiar plugged sensation and muffled hearing. “Popping” your ears simply means forcing those tubes open long enough to let pressure balance out.
The Easiest Methods
Swallowing and Yawning
Swallowing activates muscles in your soft palate and throat that pull the eustachian tubes open. You don’t need to do anything special. Sipping water, sucking on hard candy, or chewing gum during a flight all work because they keep you swallowing frequently. Yawning does the same thing with a wider stretch, which is why a big, exaggerated yawn often pops both ears at once.
The Valsalva Maneuver
This is the technique most people learn first. Pinch your nostrils shut, close your mouth, and blow gently through your nose. The air has nowhere to go except up into your eustachian tubes, pushing them open. Keep the pressure gentle and steady. If your ears don’t pop within a second or two, stop and try again rather than blowing harder. Forceful blowing can push fluid or bacteria into your middle ear or, in rare cases, damage the eardrum.
The Toynbee Maneuver
Pinch your nostrils shut and swallow. Swallowing pulls the eustachian tubes open while the movement of your tongue, with your nose closed, compresses air against them from below. This method is considered gentler than the Valsalva because it uses the natural muscles of the throat instead of forcing air from the lungs. Many people find it more effective when they have mild congestion.
Jaw Movement
Tensing the muscles of your soft palate and throat while pushing your jaw forward and down, as if starting to yawn, pulls the eustachian tubes open without any nose pinching at all. You can do this discreetly in a meeting or on a crowded plane. Combine it with swallowing for a stronger effect.
Techniques for Divers
Underwater pressure increases rapidly, so divers need a method that works reliably at depth. The Frenzel maneuver is preferred over the Valsalva because it’s more controlled, doesn’t rely on the diaphragm, and produces less overall pressure, making it safer for the ears.
To perform the Frenzel: pinch your nose, fill your mouth with a small amount of air, close off your throat at the back (your epiglottis), then use your tongue like a piston to push that air toward the back of your throat. Because your nose is pinched and your throat is sealed, the air is forced into the eustachian tubes. Divers can repeat this quickly and at any depth, which is why freedivers rely on it almost exclusively. The Valsalva, by contrast, becomes less effective as water pressure increases because the chest muscles have to work against a greater load.
Helping Babies and Toddlers
Infants can’t pop their ears on command, so you need to trigger swallowing for them. The most reliable approach during flights is nursing or bottle-feeding during takeoff and landing, when pressure changes are greatest. A pacifier works too, since the sucking motion encourages swallowing. Holding your baby upright helps fluid drain away from the eustachian tubes rather than pooling around them.
A practical tip: schedule flights around nap times if you can. A drowsy baby is more likely to take a bottle or pacifier naturally. Keep everything you need within arm’s reach so you’re not digging through an overhead bag while the plane descends. If your child has a cold, congestion, or an active ear infection, talk to your pediatrician before the flight since swollen eustachian tubes make equalization much harder.
Devices That Can Help
If you struggle with ear pressure regularly, a handheld device called the EarPopper is one FDA-cleared option. It’s a small battery-powered pump that you hold against one nostril. It delivers a gentle stream of air (about 3 to 6 PSI) into your nasal passage while you swallow, pushing air through the eustachian tubes. It’s designed for people with eustachian tube dysfunction, fluid buildup in the middle ear, or chronic discomfort from flying, colds, and allergies.
Balloon-based products like the Otovent work on a similar principle. You inflate a small balloon using one nostril, which creates just enough back-pressure to open the eustachian tube. Both options are drug-free and non-surgical, and they can be especially useful for children who can’t master the Valsalva or Toynbee on their own.
What Not to Do
The biggest mistake is blowing too hard during a Valsalva. If you force it, you can rupture your eardrum. A perforated eardrum causes sharp pain, muffled hearing, and sometimes ringing or dizziness. It also leaves the middle ear exposed to infection from water or bacteria. Most small perforations heal on their own within a few weeks, but larger tears may need medical repair.
Avoid trying to equalize when you’re very congested. Swollen tissues around the eustachian tubes make them resistant to opening, and pushing hard against that resistance increases the risk of barotrauma. A nasal decongestant spray used 30 minutes before a flight or dive can shrink the tissue enough to let equalization happen more easily.
When Pressure Won’t Go Away
Occasional ear popping during altitude changes is completely normal. But certain patterns signal something that needs attention. Ear fullness that lasts more than a few days, sudden or rapidly worsening hearing loss, repeated episodes of dizziness, or pain with drainage or bleeding from the ear are all considered red flags by ear specialists. Pulsatile tinnitus (a rhythmic whooshing sound in one ear that matches your heartbeat) and hearing that is noticeably worse on one side also warrant evaluation. These symptoms can point to eustachian tube dysfunction, middle ear fluid, or less common conditions that benefit from early treatment.