Archive · 24 Jul 2025
Why Ears Pop on Flights and Elevators: Causes and Tips
When you go up in a plane or a tall building, the air pressure changes.
Our ears have a tube that helps keep the pressure balanced.
If this tube doesn't work right, your ears might pop or feel blocked.
This is because the pressure inside your ear isn't the same as the pressure outside.
Babies feel this too, and it might bother them more.
To help, you can swallow, yawn, or try a special trick.
Babies can drink milk or use a pacifier.
If your ears stay blocked, talk to a doctor.
Changes in air pressure during flights or elevator rides can cause ears to pop or feel blocked.
The middle ear, a small air-filled space, connects to the back of the nose via the Eustachian tube.
If the Eustachian tube doesn't open properly, pressure imbalances can occur, causing discomfort.
Babies also experience ear pressure, potentially more intensely due to smaller Eustachian tubes.
Tips for relief include swallowing, yawning, the Valsalva method, nasal sprays, and for babies, feeding.
- Who
- Most people experience it, especially those with colds, allergies or sinus infections and babies.
- What
- Ear popping and blocked feeling due to pressure changes.
- When
- During flights and elevator rides.
- Where
- In airplanes and high-rise buildings.
- Why
- Because the Eustachian tube doesn't equalize pressure in the middle ear as the outside pressure changes.
- Affected
- Ears
- Cause
- Pressure Changes
- Location of Pressure Change
- Flights/Elevators
- Eustachian Tube Function
- Pressure Equalization
- Baby Experience
- More Intense
- Relief Methods
- Swallowing, yawning, Valsalva, nasal spray, feeding babies