The fastest way to depressurize your ears is to pinch your nose shut, close your mouth, and gently blow until you feel a soft pop. This technique, called the Valsalva maneuver, forces air through the narrow tubes connecting your throat to your middle ears, equalizing the pressure on both sides of your eardrums. It works in seconds for most people, but it’s just one of several methods, and knowing the right one for your situation matters.
Why Your Ears Feel Plugged
Your middle ear is a small air-filled space sealed off from the outside by your eardrum. A narrow channel called the Eustachian tube connects it to the back of your throat, and this tube is normally closed. Its walls sit collapsed against each other and only open briefly when you swallow, yawn, or chew. When the tube opens, air moves in or out to match the pressure around you.
Problems start when outside pressure changes faster than your Eustachian tubes can adjust. During airplane descent, for example, cabin pressure rises while the air trapped in your middle ear stays at the lower pressure from cruising altitude. That mismatch pushes your eardrum inward, stretching it and producing that familiar stuffed, muffled feeling. The same thing happens underwater, in elevators, or driving through mountains. Anything that swells the lining of the Eustachian tube, like a cold, allergies, acid reflux, or a sinus infection, makes the problem worse because the tube can’t open as easily.
Three Proven Equalization Techniques
The Valsalva Maneuver
Pinch your nostrils closed, keep your mouth shut, and blow gently as if inflating a balloon. You should feel a soft pop or click in one or both ears. This is the most widely known method and works well on airplanes and at moderate depths while diving. The key word is “gently.” Blowing too hard forces a spike of pressure against your eardrum. A pressure difference of just 5 psi across the eardrum can cause it to rupture, and at 14 psi almost all eardrums will tear. Use steady, mild force, not a sudden blast.
The Toynbee Maneuver
Pinch your nose shut and swallow. The swallowing motion pulls the Eustachian tubes open while the pinched nose creates a slight vacuum that draws air into or out of the middle ear. This technique is especially useful when you’re descending in an airplane because it pairs naturally with sipping water or swallowing saliva. Many people find it more comfortable than blowing.
The Frenzel Maneuver
Pinch your nose, close your mouth, then close the back of your throat as if you’re about to lift something heavy. With everything sealed, push your tongue upward and backward while making the sound of the letter “K.” This compresses the small pocket of air in your upper throat and nudges it into both Eustachian tubes simultaneously. Scuba divers favor the Frenzel because it works at greater depths where the Valsalva becomes less effective, and it requires far less force.
Simpler Methods That Often Work
Not every situation calls for a specific maneuver. Swallowing, yawning, and chewing gum all activate the small muscles that pull the Eustachian tubes open. On a short flight, chewing a piece of gum during takeoff and landing is often enough. Sipping water works the same way. If one ear clears but the other doesn’t, tilt your head so the stubborn ear faces the ceiling and try swallowing again. Gravity changes the angle of the tube slightly and can help it open.
A warm washcloth held over the ear won’t equalize pressure directly, but the heat can relax tense tissue around the tube opening and make swallowing more effective. Some people also find that gently massaging the area just behind the earlobe, where the Eustachian tube sits beneath the skin, helps coax it open.
Timing Matters on Flights
Ear pressure problems on airplanes are almost always worse during descent than during climb. Cabin pressure drops gradually as the plane ascends, and your Eustachian tubes can usually vent excess air passively. On the way down, though, rising cabin pressure compresses the air in your middle ear, and the tubes need active help to let air back in.
Start equalizing as soon as you feel the plane begin its descent, not after your ears already feel blocked. Once the Eustachian tube lining gets pushed together by the pressure difference, it becomes much harder to open. Swallow or perform a gentle Valsalva every 15 to 30 seconds during the descent phase. If you’re congested, a nasal decongestant spray used 30 minutes to an hour before landing can reduce swelling enough to give the tube room to open, though research suggests decongestants alone don’t reliably fix abnormal middle ear pressure during a cold.
Staying awake during descent is important. You don’t swallow as often while asleep, so pressure can build unchecked. If you tend to doze on flights, set an alarm for about 30 minutes before your scheduled landing.
Helping Babies and Small Children
Infants can’t perform equalization maneuvers, but they can swallow. The most effective approach is to breastfeed or bottle-feed during takeoff and landing. The sucking and swallowing motions repeatedly open the Eustachian tubes. A pacifier works similarly if feeding isn’t an option. Holding your baby upright rather than reclined also helps with drainage and pressure relief.
Toddlers old enough to follow instructions can try sipping from a straw or blowing bubbles through one, which mimics a gentle Valsalva. Older children can chew gum or practice pinching their nose and swallowing just like adults.
Equalizing While Diving
Underwater pressure increases much faster than it does in an airplane cabin. Every 10 meters (about 33 feet) of depth adds roughly one full atmosphere of pressure. Divers need to equalize early and often, ideally every meter or two during descent, before any discomfort starts.
The Valsalva works at shallow depths but becomes harder as you go deeper because the increased water pressure makes it difficult to generate enough airflow. The Frenzel maneuver is the preferred technique for experienced divers because it uses tongue compression rather than lung pressure, making it effective at any depth and much gentler on the eardrums. If neither ear will clear, stop your descent, rise a meter or two, and try again. Pushing through pain underwater risks barotrauma, which can cause vertigo and disorientation, a dangerous combination at depth.
When Ears Won’t Clear
If your ears stay blocked for more than a few hours after a flight or dive, or if the pressure feeling keeps coming back without an obvious trigger like altitude changes, the issue is likely Eustachian tube dysfunction. Common causes include ongoing allergies, chronic sinus inflammation, a lingering upper respiratory infection, or acid reflux irritating the tissue around the tube opening. Treating the underlying inflammation usually resolves the ear symptoms.
Persistent fullness, muffled hearing, ringing, pain that worsens over time, dizziness, or any fluid draining from the ear are signs of possible barotrauma or middle ear damage. These symptoms warrant a medical evaluation, especially after diving, where pressure changes are more extreme and the risk of inner ear injury is higher.