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.
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.