Lying down on one side and keeping still for a few minutes may help the liquid drain or trickle from the ear. Tilt the head so the affected ear faces down. Hold the earlobe with the thumb behind the ear and gently tug and jiggle the ear in all directions.
Fluid Buildup
Oftentimes, removing the fluid can also alleviate the pressure in your ear. Some ways to remove fluid buildup include: Tilt your ear towards your shoulder while you jiggle or tug on your earlobe. Lay down on your side while tilting your clogged ear downward.
If you're an adult with a middle ear infection, elevating the affected ear makes it easier for the infection to drain out. So, sleep on your other side or tuck a few extra pillows under your head if sleeping on your back. If you have an outer ear infection, keep blankets and hair away from your ear.
Lie on your side where the water is trapped and rest your head on a towel to absorb the water. Slowly but surely the water should make its way down and out of your ear. Try rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. This can help dry out the ear canal.
Many times, fluid in the ear gradually goes away on its own. If you have an infection, you may need antibiotics. If the fluid buildup in your does not get better or gets worse, you might need surgery to help drain it.
Is It Possible That the Ear Fluid Will Just Go Away on Its Own? Fluid often goes away on its own, so your doctor will often recommend watchful waiting for the first three months. Be sure to follow-up with your doctor to make sure the fluid goes away completely.
In most cases, the fluid clears up within a few months without treatment. You may need more tests if the fluid does not clear up after 3 months. For adults, decongestants that you take by mouth or spray into your nose may be helpful.
Sleeping sitting up can allow fluid in your ear to drain easier, as well as easing pressure and pain in your middle ear – the likely source of the infection itself. Try propping yourself up on a stack of pillows, or better yet sleep in a reclining sofa or armchair.
Fluid in the middle ear can have few symptoms, especially if it develops slowly. It almost always goes away on its own in a few weeks to a few months. So, this kind of ear problem doesn't usually need to be treated with antibiotics.
Using a gentle amount of pressure, press lightly on the area along the back of the ear that meets your jawbone, continuously push and release this flap of skin several times to open the eustachian tubes up. Another method of ear treatment gaining popularity is ear candling.
Sleep position
Rest with your head on two or more pillows, so your affected ear is higher than the rest of your body. Or if your left ear has an infection, sleep on your right side. Less pressure equals less ear pain.
Symptoms of Eustachian tube dysfunction usually go away without treatment. You can do exercises to open up the tubes. This includes swallowing, yawning, or chewing gum. You can help relieve the “full ear” feeling by taking a deep breath, pinching your nostrils closed, and “blowing” with your mouth shut.
Since the eustachian tubes in the infected ears can only drain into the throat, try keeping the infected ear elevated by sleeping on the opposite side of the one infected. This way the tube will be above the throat, and the ear will most certainly drain sooner.
Clogged ears can also result from swollen or blocked eustachian tubes, which connect the middle ear to the back of the throat. This can happen for brief periods during air travel, but also due to allergies, sinus or ear infections, or other respiratory viruses (including COVID-19).
Eustachian tube massage
Using firm, steady pressure, slide your finger down until you feel a groove between your ear lobe and jaw. Trace that groove all the way down your neck to your collarbone using the same firm pressure. Repeat this process three times on each side, three times a day.
Close your mouth, hold your nose, and gently blow as if you are blowing your nose. Yawning and chewing gum also may help. You may hear or feel a "pop" when the tubes open to make the pressure equal between the inside and outside of your ears.
What symptoms are related to fluid from the ear? Symptoms depend on what is causing the fluid or discharge. You might have pain, itching, loss of hearing or ringing in your ear, or you might feel unwell with dizziness or a fever. The fluid might contain wax, blood or pus.
If there is significant hearing loss (more than 20 decibels), antibiotics or ear tubes might be needed. If the fluid is still present after 4 to 6 months, tubes are probably needed, even if there is no major hearing loss. Sometimes the adenoids must be taken out for the Eustachian tube to work properly.
A myringotomy is a procedure to create a hole in the ear drum to allow fluid that is trapped in the middle ear to drain out. The fluid may be blood, pus and/or water. In many cases, a small tube is inserted into the hole in the ear drum to help maintain drainage.
Otitis media, more commonly referred to as a middle ear infection, is a buildup of fluid behind the eardrum that can, and often does, harbor bacteria or virus. An ear infection can cause ear pressure, fluid drainage, fever and sometimes temporary hearing loss.
This fluid drains through a little tube (eustachian tube) that runs to the back of the nose. Colds, allergies, infected adenoids, or sinusitis, can cause congestion of the nose and eustachian tube. This congestion causes the tube to be blocked. With the tube blocked the fluid in the middle ear cannot drain.
Ear infections that happen again and again, or fluid in the middle ear, may lead to more-significant hearing loss. If there is some permanent damage to the eardrum or other middle ear structures, permanent hearing loss may occur.