What should I do if my ear is stuffed with a cold?

So, what is a common cold? In medicine, this condition is indicated by the beautiful word "rhinitis". The mucous membranes of the nasal sinuses inflame and swell, which causes such familiar symptoms as nasal congestion, transparent or greenish discharge, itching in the nose and sky. In addition, there may be a feeling that the ear is stuffed with a cold. Let's understand together why this happens and how to recover as quickly as possible.

What should I do if I have an ear?

Even the most remote from medicine people know that the ears, throat and nose are interconnected system. This is indicated by the slang name of the specialist who deals with this area of illness: uhaghargonos. Therefore, it is natural, if one of these organs becomes ill, after him along the chain, infection passes to the other two. For example, from an innocuous runny nose, otitis can often occur. In order to answer the question "what to do if an ear has stuffed with a cold", let's take a closer look at the structure of the auditory system.

Hearing System

Its beginning is the external auditory canal, which passes into the auditory canal. The passage of the tympanic membrane terminates, which is a thin membrane. On the other side of the tympanic membrane is the middle ear, that is, the space that fills the air. One point is very important here: for the normal functioning of the auditory system, it is necessary that the pressure inside the middle ear and the pressure inside the auditory canal be equal to each other. Otherwise, the person begins to hear worse, suffers from noise in the ears, etc. Balanced levels of pressure with the Eustachian tube - it connects the auditory cavity of the person with the throat. Inside this tube, the air circulates freely in both directions, thereby normalizing the pressure. If the patency of the pipe deteriorates (for example, it clogs), then there will be a pressure drop on both sides of the eardrum.
Do you feel that you have an ear with a cold ? The reason can be in the Eustachian tube: the rhinitis provokes its constriction or even a complete blockage. Hence the feeling of stuffiness. Therefore, in order to normalize the state of the ear system, first of all it is necessary to get rid of the common cold.

We get rid of the stuffiness

So, what is the first thing to do if the ear is stuffed with a cold? There are several quick ways to solve the problem. First of all, buy in the pharmacy special drops for the nose, which cause a narrowing of the vessels. Of course, they can not be considered a full-fledged medicine, since they do not cure a cold, but only remove its symptoms. But in order to remove the edema from the Eustachian tube, such drops are simply necessary. In addition, their use reduces the risk of inflammation in the ear.

Another effective tool is specialized ear drops. They are sold without a doctor's prescription and quickly relieve the feeling of stuffiness. If you trust people's methods, you can prepare yourself an alcohol compress. To do this, dilute the alcohol with water and moisten them with a gauze bandage. Put it on the auricle so that the ear is outside. From above, close the ears with food film and a layer of cotton wool. The compress is done at night.

If none of these methods has helped, contact a doctor-otolaryngologist (LOR) - it is quite possible that you have sinusitis.