Is Popping Your Ears Dangerous?

[Karl28]

I recently had a cold and while now 6 days later I feel fine I still find myself having to blow heaps of mucus out of my nose and my ears are still blocked up.

I get a lot of pressure building up in my ears which I have to sometimes pop with a bit of force.

But I wonder is this safe?

 

[yonkapin]

I'd recommend against it.

I used to perform the valsalva maneuver regularly because I felt that my ears were always blocked up, especially on the left side. However, I did it one unlucky day and caused a barotrauma in my left ear, it popped weird and I started to experience extreme pain and tinnitus for about 8 or so hours. Felt like a kettle was going off in my ear, it settled over the next day but I then started to deal with a whole new bunch of auditory issues, most notably was hyperacusis / chronic pain in my left ear. It's finally settled this year and it's rare for me to feel any sort of pain in the ear now but it was about a year and a half of ups and downs.

So yeah, avoid popping your ears. It's a bad habit and there's no benefit to it, unless you're adjusting to altitude or something - even then there are safer ways to pop your ears. I mentioned this in another thread of yours but I was just sick with a cold a few weeks ago and it took a good two weeks for my ears to feel normal again, even after most of my cold symptoms had abated. Just wait it out, or use a decongestant.

 

[Nucleo]

If you have to use a bit of force - don't do it.

 

[Telis]

Light pressure I'm sure is key, don't be stupid (like me)and blow as hard as you can. I did a ton of damage this way.

 

[Quentino]

Don't be afraid if you've already done that but you should avoid, doing it too much is not good.

You have to force really to make it bad, so i'm sure you've done nothing to your ears but it's better to avoid.