Dear health-conscious friends,

That little “pop” you hear on an airplane isn’t your eardrum popping. It’s actually your ear fixing a pressure problem.

You’re sitting on a plane as it begins to descend. Suddenly your ears feel blocked. Sounds become muffled. There may even be a little pain.

Then you swallow.

Pop.

Everything sounds normal again.

So what exactly just happened inside your ear?

It’s All About Air Pressure

Behind your eardrum is a small air-filled space called the middle ear.

For your eardrum to vibrate normally, the air pressure on both sides of it needs to be roughly equal.

Normally, you never notice this because your body has a clever pressure-equalising system: the Eustachian tube.

This narrow passage connects the middle ear to the back of your nose and throat. Most of the time, it remains closed.

But when you swallow, yawn or chew, muscles briefly pull the Eustachian tube open.

Air can then move between your throat and middle ear, equalising the pressure.

That sudden movement is what produces the familiar pop.

Why Do Your Ears Pop on an Airplane?

During take-off, the air pressure around you decreases as the aircraft climbs.

During landing, the opposite happens: outside air pressure increases as the aircraft descends.

The pressure inside your middle ear doesn’t always change quickly enough to keep up.

That creates a pressure difference across the eardrum.

Your eardrum may be pushed slightly inward or outward, producing the familiar sensation of blocked ears, muffled hearing, pressure or discomfort.

When your Eustachian tube finally opens, air moves through it and the pressure equalises.

Pop — problem solved.

This phenomenon is often called airplane ear or, when more severe, ear barotrauma.

Why Swallowing, Yawning and Chewing Gum Help

All three encourage the Eustachian tube to open.

That’s why chewing gum during an aircraft’s descent can genuinely help — it isn’t just an old travel myth.

You can also try:

• swallowing repeatedly
• yawning
• sipping water
• sucking a sweet
• gently performing a Valsalva manoeuvre — closing your mouth, pinching your nose and gently trying to breathe out against it

The important word is gently. Forceful pressure isn’t necessary and can potentially injure the ear.

Why Is It Worse When You Have a Cold?

If you’ve ever flown with a heavy cold, you may have discovered that your ears simply refuse to pop.

There’s a reason.

A cold, allergy or sinus infection can cause swelling around the opening of the Eustachian tube. The tube may then struggle to open normally.

Pressure becomes trapped in the middle ear, making flying — particularly landing — much more uncomfortable.

Children can have even more trouble because their Eustachian tubes are smaller and positioned differently from those of adults.

Can Your Ears Actually Be Damaged?

Usually, ear popping is completely harmless.

But a large or persistent pressure difference can occasionally cause barotrauma.

This can produce significant ear pain, temporary hearing loss, ringing in the ear, dizziness or fluid behind the eardrum. In more severe cases, the eardrum can bleed or even rupture.

Fortunately, serious injury from routine air travel is uncommon.

What About Popping When You’re Not Flying?

Your ears can also pop when driving through mountains, travelling in a fast lift, diving underwater or experiencing any other relatively rapid change in atmospheric pressure.

Occasional popping when swallowing or yawning is also normal.

But if one or both ears remain persistently blocked, repeatedly pop without an obvious reason, or are accompanied by hearing loss, significant pain, discharge, severe dizziness or persistent tinnitus, it’s worth having them examined.

There may be another cause, such as Eustachian tube dysfunction, earwax, middle-ear fluid or infection.

The Bottom Line

Your ears aren’t popping because something inside them is bursting.

Quite the opposite.

The pop is usually the sound of your ear successfully correcting itself.

A tiny tube connecting your middle ear to your throat has briefly opened, allowing air to move and the pressure on either side of your eardrum to equalise.

So the next time your plane begins its descent and you hear that reassuring little pop, you’ll know exactly what your ears have just accomplished.

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​AskADoc Weekly: Clear medical insights without the jargon.

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Stay healthy!

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👩‍⚕️ Dr. Joanna​
​AskADoc4Advice — where medicine meets curiosity (and a little bit of weird).

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