How can the feeling of pressure inside the ear be relieved?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a 21-year-old female and 160 pounds and at a height of 5’6". I have been having a problem with my left ear. I woke up one morning and felt that it was clogged and made the mistake of using a Q-tip which resulted in my being unable to pop my ear. That was over a week ago. I have tried wax softener drops and a saline spray to try and clean my ears out but it has not worked. Now there is a pressure inside my ear. I am not sure what to do. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Possibilities are impacted wax, ear canal infection, middle ear infection, eustachian tube catarrh. Unless one sees inside the ear using an otoscope or endoscope it is difficult to diagnose. However, a course of antibiotic with decongestant and keeping ears dry till you get better can work in an empirical way for most of the diagnoses listed above. If you need more information on that revert back to me. One can buy ear cameras and they do help in cases like yours where you are not able to go to an ENT. You can take pictures of the inside of the ear and share with us online and we can guide you on what is to be done.