You Have A Cold | How To Unclog Ears When

Why does this happen? The culprit is the —a tiny canal that connects your middle ear to the back of your throat. When you have a cold, inflammation and mucus block this tube, preventing air pressure from equalizing. The result feels like you are wearing earplugs.

Before you reach for a cotton swab (stop right there!), here is how to safely unclog your ears using science-backed methods. When your ear feels blocked, your instinct might be to use a cotton swab, bobby pin, or your pinky finger to "dig" the blockage out.

There is nothing quite as frustrating as the stuffy, underwater feeling of a head cold. You can handle the runny nose and the scratchy throat, but when your ears clog up? That muffled hearing and feeling of pressure can drive anyone crazy.