The quickest way to pop your ears on a plane is to pinch your nose shut, close your mouth, and gently blow as if you’re trying to push air out through your nose. This is called the Valsalva maneuver, and it works by forcing air up the small tubes that connect your throat to your middle ear. But it’s not the only option, and knowing a few different techniques gives you a backup plan when one method doesn’t work mid-flight.
Why Your Ears Clog During Flights
Your middle ear is a small, sealed space behind your eardrum. It connects to the back of your throat through a narrow channel called the eustachian tube, which normally stays closed. When the cabin pressure drops during ascent or rises during descent, the air trapped in your middle ear is at a different pressure than the air pushing on the outside of your eardrum. That mismatch stretches the eardrum inward or outward, creating that familiar plugged, painful feeling.
Your eustachian tubes are supposed to open briefly when you swallow or yawn, letting air flow in or out to balance the pressure. But they don’t always keep up with the rapid pressure changes of a flight, especially during descent, when cabin pressure increases faster than most people can equalize. If the tubes fail to open, the pressure difference stays, and you get what’s technically called otitic barotrauma: inflammation caused by that unresolved pressure gap.
Three Techniques That Work
Pinch and Blow (Valsalva Maneuver)
Pinch both nostrils closed, keep your mouth shut, and blow gently through your nose. The pressure in your throat pushes air up into the eustachian tubes, forcing them open. You should feel a soft pop or click in one or both ears. Keep the force gentle. Blowing too hard won’t help and can cause dizziness or, rarely, damage to the inner ear. If it doesn’t work on the first try, wait a few seconds and try again with slightly more pressure.
Pinch and Swallow (Toynbee Maneuver)
Pinch your nose shut and swallow. Swallowing activates the muscles in your throat that naturally pull the eustachian tubes open, while your closed nose compresses air against them. This method is considered safer than the Valsalva because it uses muscle action rather than brute force. It’s especially useful during descent, when the pressure difference makes the tubes harder to open by blowing alone. Sipping water while holding your nose makes this easier.
Yawning and Jaw Movement
A wide, exaggerated yawn stretches the muscles around the eustachian tubes enough to pop them open. If you can’t trigger a real yawn, open your mouth as wide as possible and move your jaw side to side. This is the gentlest approach and works well for mild pressure buildup, though it may not be enough during a rapid descent.
Timing Matters More Than Technique
Most people wait until their ears feel blocked, then scramble to fix it. A better approach is to start equalizing early and often. Begin swallowing, yawning, or using the Valsalva as soon as the plane starts its descent (the captain usually announces this about 20 to 30 minutes before landing). Repeat every 15 to 30 seconds during the descent phase. The goal is to keep the pressure balanced continuously rather than trying to clear a large pressure gap that’s already built up.
Descent is worse than ascent for most people. During climb, the higher-pressure air in your middle ear pushes outward through the tubes relatively easily. During descent, the tubes need to let air back in against the direction they naturally resist. That’s why your ears are more likely to stay stuck on the way down.
Gum, Candy, and Drinking
Chewing gum or sucking on hard candy works because both activities make you swallow more frequently, and each swallow briefly opens your eustachian tubes. Drinking water or another beverage in small, steady sips does the same thing. These methods are mild, so they’re best used as a preventive strategy throughout the flight rather than as a fix once your ears are already painfully blocked.
Nasal Sprays and Decongestants
If you’re flying with a cold, allergies, or sinus congestion, your eustachian tubes are already swollen and less likely to open on their own. A decongestant nasal spray used about 30 minutes before the flight can shrink the tissue around the tube openings and make equalizing much easier. The CDC notes that a vasoconstricting nasal spray before air travel can decrease the likelihood of barotrauma in people with existing eustachian tube problems.
Oral decongestants taken 30 to 60 minutes before departure are another option, though they take longer to kick in and affect your whole body rather than targeting the nose and throat. If you know from experience that your ears always give you trouble, using a spray before takeoff and again before descent covers both phases of the flight.
Do Pressure-Regulating Earplugs Help?
You’ll see filtered earplugs marketed for air travel in airport shops and pharmacies. They claim to slow the rate of pressure change reaching your eardrum. In a controlled study that tested one brand on 27 volunteers prone to ear barotrauma, 78% said the plugs had a pleasant noise-reducing effect. But 75% still experienced ear pain during descent. The plugs may take the edge off, but they don’t replace active equalizing techniques. Think of them as a comfort add-on, not a solution.
Helping Babies and Small Children
Infants and toddlers can’t perform a Valsalva maneuver or chew gum, and they can’t tell you what’s wrong, which is why babies so often cry during descent. The best tool is anything that makes them swallow. A bottle, pacifier, or breastfeeding during takeoff and landing keeps the eustachian tubes opening regularly. If you’re bottle-feeding, keep the baby sitting upright. For older toddlers, a sippy cup with water or a snack that requires chewing can serve the same purpose.
Time the feeding to match the descent, not just takeoff. Many parents offer a bottle at the start of the flight and have nothing left for landing, which is the phase most likely to cause pain.
When Flying With a Cold Gets Risky
Upper respiratory infections swell the eustachian tubes, sometimes enough to seal them shut entirely. Flying in that state raises the risk of actual barotrauma: fluid buildup in the middle ear, severe pain that lasts hours or days, and in rare cases, a ruptured eardrum. If you’re congested and can’t reschedule, use a decongestant spray before the flight and equalize aggressively during both ascent and descent. Be prepared for the possibility that standard techniques won’t fully clear the pressure.
Signs That Something Went Wrong
Mild ear fullness that fades within a few hours after landing is normal. But certain symptoms point to barotrauma that needs medical attention: bleeding or fluid draining from the ear, severe pain that doesn’t improve after several hours, a noticeable drop in hearing, or fever. These suggest the eardrum may be damaged or fluid has accumulated behind it. Most cases of flight-related barotrauma resolve on their own within days, but persistent symptoms warrant a visit to your doctor to rule out a perforation or infection.