5 tricks for popping your ears after a flight

Look at this! Clogged ears are the worst thing that's happened to this woman all day! (iStock)

It's been two hours since you left the airport and your ears still feel clogged.

Other than being mildly uncomfortable, ear blockage can put a damper on your travels as you struggle to listen to your tour guides, follow along in business meetings, or chat with friends at the hotel bar.

Rather than wait for that inconvenient, stuffy feeling to go away on its own, you can speed up the process by utilizing safe and natural methods designed to clear your Eustachian tubes and drain the fluids in your ears. These techniques can also come in handy if a cold or sinus infection has your ears blocked hours before a flight, and you want to prevent the potentially painful experience of flying with clogged ears.

So if it's been a few hours since you got off the plane and you can't quite hear your travel companion's thoughts on the local cuisine, try one of the 5 methods below to unclog your ears and get back to enjoying your trip:

1. The Valsalva Maneuver

Close your mouth, pinch your nostrils together, and blow softly. This method will equalize the pressure in your Eustachian tubes, but be careful not to blow too hard so you don't damage your eardrums.

2. The Toynbee Maneuver

The Toynbee Maneuver works like the Valsalva Maneuver in that it helps to equalize the pressure in your ears. Using this method, pinch your nose and take a few sips of water to help you swallow.

3. Olive Oil or Hydrogen Peroxide

This technique serves to open up your Eustachian tubes by softening and removing your earwax. Add lukewarm olive oil or hydrogen peroxide to an ear dropper and lie down with the affected ear facing up. Place three to five drops of liquid in your blocked ear and remain in that position for five to ten minutes. Next, switch sides with the affected ear facing down and wait for your ear to drain earwax and excess oil or hydrogen peroxide. (Make sure to have a towel pressed against your ear while you do this.) When you are done, use a cotton boll or tissue to soak up any liquid at the entrance to your ear canal. You can use this technique three times a day for up to seven days.

4. Warm Compress

Take a wash cloth, run it under warm water, and wring out the water. Apply the cloth to your ear for five to ten minutes, and the fluids in your ear will start to drain.

5. Steaming

Boil a pot of water and transfer it to a large bowl. Create a tent with a towel by covering both yourself and the bowl with it. Inhale the steam to help thin the mucus and earwax in your ear. If you want, you can add a couple of drops of tea tree or lavender oil to the water to further reduce pain and inflammation. Breathe in until you feel your ear canals start to open up.

Alternatively, you can also hop in the shower for 10 minutes. If your ear is clogged on your flight and you need quick pain relief, ask your flight attendant for a tea bag and two cups, one empty and one filled with hot water. Steep the tea bag in the cup of hot water, and then transfer the tea to the empty cup, keeping the tea bag and a little bit of water in the first cup. Hold that first cup up to your ear; the tea bag will lock in the heat from the water, and the steam from the tea bag will help relieve your ear pain.

How to prevent clogged ears next time

The best way to get rid of ear blockage is to prevent it from happening in the first place. To that end, here are a few tricks to keeping your ears from popping on your next flight.

• Take Sudafed or your preferred decongestant one hour before your flight to thin the mucus in your sinuses. (Of course follow directions and consult a doctor if there's any question as to whether or not you should take the over-the-counter drugs.)
• Open up your Eustachian tubes by using nasal spray, like Afrin, both before you board and 45 minutes prior to landing.
• Wear earplugs to relieve air pressure mid-flight.
• Chew gum, yawn, and suck on hard candy when you are taking off and landing.