How To Pop Ears Safely

Chewing Gum

An individual can induce the popping of their ears by chewing gum when they have barotitus media or barotrauma. An individual's middle ear typically can adjust to changing air pressures outside of the ear. However, it takes several minutes for the middle ear to adjust when this pressure change occurs suddenly, like during the takeoff of an airplane. Some individuals' ears will pop without any intervention, while others may have a harder time with equalizing the pressure in their middle ear. One of the best-known methods of inducing ear popping is chewing gum. While it sounds like the actual chewing motion would help the ears pop, this is actually not true. When an individual chews gum, the flavorings in the gum cause their saliva glands to produce more saliva. The oral cavity has a mechanism in place to rid the mouth of excessive saliva or other fluids by automatically inducing swallowing. An individual who is chewing gum will swallow much more frequently than someone who is not. Swallowing forces the eustachian tubes to open, which is why chewing gum is effective at popping the ears.

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