When the sound into the ear is no longer clear, like a ball of cotton stuffed in the ear, there is a similar feeling of ear blocking, boredom, swelling when taking a plane, many people will take out their mobile phones to search keywords: ear blocking, ear congestion.

As a result, a sentence "Beware of nasopharyngeal cancer" popped up on the Web page, and I was immediately frightened, followed by all kinds of worry, anxiety and confusion.

Ears appear stuffy feeling must be nasopharyngeal cancer?

First, how does the feeling of "boredom" come from?

Inside our ears is a translucent membrane called the tympanic membrane.

The outside of the tympanic membrane is the external auditory canal, while the inside of the tympanic membrane is connected to the nasopharynx at the back of the nose through a "secret canal" called the eustachian tube.

In general, the air pressure inside and outside the eardrum is equal.

When the eustachian tube is not functioning properly (mainly when the nasopharyngeal opening is blocked or poorly opened), the air pressure outside the tympanic membrane will "press" the tympanic membrane, resulting in a sense of ear congestion.

Second, there is a sense of ear congestion, what may be the cause?

After ruling out the possibility of earwax or other foreign objects in the ear, in most cases, the ear stuffy feeling is related to the eustaping tube.

For example, colds and allergic rhinitis may cause swelling of the eustachan tube mucosa, resulting in poor eustachan tube function and a sense of congestion.

Adenoid hypertrophy, nasopharyngeal lymphoid tissue hyperplasia, nasopharyngeal cancer and other diseases, can lead to mechanical obstruction of the eustachian tube, but also produce ear congestion.

When it comes to nasopharyngeal cancer, if you do not have a bloody nose, neck lump, etc., do not scare yourself, the probability is not nasopharyngeal cancer.

In addition, ear congestion may also be caused by congenital diseases (such as cleft lip and palate), gastroesophageal reflux, environmental changes and other factors.

Third, what conditions accompanied by ear tightness need timely medical treatment?

Ear tightness, you can try the following ways to relieve. Don't push too hard, though, and don't hold on too long.

Press the tragus, or pull down the earlobe;
Chewing gum, swallowing, yawning, singing;
Pinch nose swallowing: pinch the nose to swallow;
Pinch nose blowing method: First take a breath, then pinch the nose and close the mouth, puff out the cheeks through the nostrils to exhale or blow air.

When the ear tightness is accompanied by the following conditions, don't kill yourself by these relief methods - it's time to go to the hospital!

Earwax or other foreign matter blocking the external ear canal (need to seek help from a professional ENT doctor to remove);
Ear tightness gradually appears and increases, accompanied by ear pain, pus flow and other discomfort (external otitis, otitis media may be possible);
Slow or sudden onset of ear tightness, accompanied by hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, etc. (with the possibility of inner ear problems);
Accompanied by fever, chills, fatigue, etc. (acute otitis media, acute suppurative otitis media may be possible);
Occlusal pain, restricted mouth opening, joint tenderness, snap (possibly temporomandibular joint dysfunction);
Headache, photophobia, etc. (there may be migraine);
Stuffy feeling for more than 2 weeks, and with the above method still did not improve (secretory otitis media, nasopharyngeal occupation, etc., may be possible).

Ear tightness is just a feeling, in addition to ear pressure changes caused by ear tightness, there are also ear tightness in daily life that can not be explained by pressure changes, such as migraine, depression and anxiety and other mental and psychological problems.

In short, ear congestion is very common, and most can be cured after finding the cause and removing the cause.

If the ear stuffy for a long time, or ear stuffy accompanied by other conditions should be timely medical treatment, timely detection of secretory otitis media, external ear meatal mycosis, nasopharyngeal cancer, ear benign and malignant tumors.