Often when you’re sick with a cold, or dealing with everyday sinus and allergy problems, you’ll have a clogged or runny nose… the same thing can happen with your ears. Having an illness such as a cold or even dealing with allergies and sinus issues can cause you to have blocked and clogged ears, which can lead to balance problems, infections, and other issues. But you can unblock those clogged ears at home, here’s how!

What To Do For Clogged Ears

Clogged or blocked ears can happen for a variety of reasons, allergies and sinus problems being two big ones. Your ears and nose are connected and able to function as a unit, which means if you have an issue with one, you may have an issue with the other. They’re both part of the upper respiratory system and share the same mucus membranes. (10) Your sinus cavities are also connected to your ears, so if you have any congestion within those cavities, you’ll also have it in your ears. (11) When you have congestion and pressure in your ear, this means that there is mucus or fluid that just won’t move.

A clogged ear can occur when the eustachian tube in your ear becomes clogged or blocked. (1) The eustachian tube connects your middle ear to the back of your nose and then down to your throat. With a properly functioning eustachian tube, fluid and mucus flows from your ear, down to the back of your throat in this tube, where you eventually swallow any fluid and mucus.

However, when there is something blocking the eustachian tube, or the fluid or mucus is thick and won’t move, this is when your ears become clogged and full of pressure. When these tubes are blocked, you may have a feeling of pressure or fullness in your ears. You could also have pain, dizziness, and muffled hearing.

It’s important to know how to unblock the eustachian tube to release any fluid build up, because the longer it stays in the tube, the better the chances of developing an ear infection. If you’re dealing with blocked, clogged ears, there are ways to help clear any fluid that your eustachian tube may be holding.

How to Unblock Your Ears

Use a Saline Spray For Clogged Ears

If you deal with allergies and sinus problems, you may be familiar with saline spray to help clear out your nose and sinuses. But saline spray can also help unclog your blocked ears. The eustachian tube is connected to the back of your nose, so using a saline spray in your nose will help remove any particles and germs that may be contributing to your ears being clogged. Saline sprays help to reduce any thick secretions that may be in the back of your nose and sinuses. (2) It’s important to use saline spray right before bed and right when you wake up.

Using a saline spray can help keep your nose and sinus cavities moisturized which prevents them from drying out, causing even more pain and pressure in your ears.

Unclog Ears With Tea Tree Oil Steam

Inhaling steam from hot water can help loosen mucus in your ear. Steam helps to dilute the mucus, making it easier for it to drain out. When this happens, the blocked-up eustachian tube is opened. (3)

Adding tea tree oil to the steam can offer even more benefits in helping to unclog your ear. Tea tree oil is an antibacterial which means it helps prevent infections and promote quick healing. Tea tree oil also has an anti-inflammatory property. This anti-inflammatory property helps to reduce swelling and inflammation that may occur when the eustachian tube is clogged.

To make a tea tree oil steam, you’ll want to first boil water in a pot. Add a few drops of tea tree oil to the boiled water. Make sure that the pot is no longer on the stove, put your face over the pot, and inhale the steam. Add only two or three drops of the tea tree oil. You can also place a towel over your head to trap more steam. The mist from the steam will move through your nose and your sinus cavities and help clear up your clogged ear. Do this once daily for five minutes to help reduce fluid in your ear.

Warm Olive Oil and Tea Tree Oil For Clogged Ears

Warmed olive oil helps to soften earwax that may have become hardened and stuck in the ear canal. It can then be broken up making it easier to remove from your ear. (6) Olive oil can help reduce inflammation which could be one of the reasons why your ear feels clogged. (12) Olive oil can also help relieve pain, similar to those over the counter medications. (12)

To unclog your ear with olive oil, you’ll want to use a dropper bottle. Place the olive oil in the dropper bottle along with five to seven drops of tea tree oil. Place the dropper bottle into a warm water bath, making sure that the temperature of the mixed oils does not exceed body temperature, 98.6. (5) Then add drop three to five drops of the tea tree oil-infused warmed olive oil into your clogged ear. Adding the tea tree oil to the olive oil will not only help unclog your blocked ear, but can also give you relief from pain and inflammation.

Unblock Ears With Oregano Oil

Oregano oil is a natural antibiotic that helps fight bacteria which can cause infections. If you do have an infection in your ear, or anywhere else on your body, oregano oil can help you beat that infection by fighting off the infection-causing bacteria. (13) It has anti-inflammatory properties and antifungal properties too, that can help support your immune system and protect against toxins. Oregano oil is also a natural antibiotic that helps fight bacteria (7) and relieves pain. One study concluded that oregano oil produces the same effects as morphine and fenoprofen in providing pain relief. (14)

To use oregano oil to unclog your ear, dilute the oregano oil with a carrier oil such as olive oil. Place the diluted oil onto a cotton ball and swab the outer part of your ear as well as the back of your ear. Coat your ear with the oil, making sure that you get into the little crevices of the ear. Add two or three more drops of the oil to the cotton ball and place the cotton ball in the opening of your ear; do not push the cotton ball into your ear. Using oregano oil will help relieve any pain that you may have as well as help move fluid that has been sitting in your eustachian tube.

T-Relief Gel To Unclog Ears

T-Relief Gel is essentially a homeopathic gel that is used to help reduce inflammation and pain. T-Relief Gel has anti-inflammatory properties as well as contains arnica and 12 other natural ingredients (8) that helps promote lymphatic fluid flow.

To use T-Relief Gel to unclog a blocked ear, apply the gel down your neck, onto both sides and the front.

Unclogging Ears Using Oils

If you decided to try one of these tips to unblock your clogged ears, it’s important to understand the proper way to use oils, mainly the tea tree and oregano oil. It’s also important to remember that when using oils that you will need to use a carrier oil, such as olive oil as many oils can be harmful to your skin if applied directly without a carrier oil.

Other Remedies to Unblock Your Ears

Along with these ways to unblock a clogged ear, there are other things that you could do at the same time.

Drinking fluids and staying hydrated is important. Staying hydrated helps to keep mucus thin which makes it easier to drain. (9)
Blowing your nose may also help unclog your ears. Doing this helps to clear up the sinus passages. (9)
Trying to keep your head up can help with the pressure. If you bend forward with your head down, it can often make the pressure worse.

Clogged ears and other ear problems usually aren’t severe and can’t typically resolve on their own or with the help of one of these tips. If you’d like a more in-depth approach, you can purchase my Ear Fluid Draining Protocol here. However, if you feel worse, have severe pain or swelling, or even a fever, you’ll want to see a doctor.