Muffled hearing and the flu

[TomsThoughts]

Hi people I currently have the flu and all of a sudden a couple days ago my hearing has dropped and I can't seem to 'pop' my ears by swallowing or yawning which people tell you works.

I feel as if my ears blocked/stuck shut by something? Maybe pressure or liquid? Has anyone had this before? How long does it take to get back to normal? does anyone have any techniques to relive pressure? Drain liquid?

Thank you so much for those who reply with help

[Randara]

Hi tom, I've read that this is fairly common with colds and flu. It could be Eustachian tube dysfunction, there's not much about it online (if you were thinking about googling). Basically your inner ears get blocked. There's a wiki how page on how to unblock inner ears, one of the methods that I've been using is the valsalva maneuver (think it's called that!)

I hope you feel better soon :)

[TomsThoughts]

How long have your ears been effected Randar? Thanks I've also been using that method it helps that my hearing comes back any other method would be a bonus

[androidz]

Haha, yeah this happened to me as well when I caught a cold 1 month ago. In my case, it lasted for about 3 weeks, this week my eustachian tubes have finally been fine.

To relieve the pressure what you have to do is bend your head forward while on a sitting position, like this (http://www.dimensionsofdentalhygiene.com/uploadedimages/DDH/Magazine/2005/01_January/Features/16b%281%29.gif). Stay like that for a few seconds every time your eustachian tubes act up and you'll get some relief. Keep doing that until it just goes away eventually.