What side should you sleep on with clogged ear?
What side should you sleep on with clogged ear? Clogged ear is the buildup of mucus or fluid inside the Eustachian tube of the ear. It is common with ear infections, allergies, colds, sinus problems and blocked Eustachian tubes. Pain and discomfort caused by clogged ear worsens at night due to the decrease in production of a stress hormone named cortisol. Cortisol is an anti-inflammatory hormone that helps in enhancing the immune functions of body in response to infection or illness. At night pain threshold of the body increases due to decreased cortisol production. It can lead to sleep disturbances leaving you awful the next day.
Sleep has a huge impact on the symptoms experienced by clogged ear. In this article we will go through the mechanism of clogged ear in detail and the best sleep positions to help you drain the Eustachian tube of ears. The effective drainage of ear tubes will lead to a more comfortable sleep, hence easing the discomfort.
Clogged ear: The mechanism involved
Clogged ear is the blockage of tube like passages in inner ear called the Eustachian tubes. These tubes connect middle ear with throat and helps in equalizing the air pressure on both sides of the eardrum. Normally the mucus drains from middle ear into the throat where it is swallowed. In case of clogged ear, mucus plugs in the middle ear reducing the middle ear pressure. When the ear becomes clogged a feeling of fullness or ringing is felt inside the ears.
Causes of clogged ears
The following factors can result in clogging of ears.
Ear infections
Clogged ear is most common with two types of ear infections.
- Otitis externa or swimmer’s ear is an outer ear infection caused by the water trapped in ears after swimming. The moisture inside ear results in bacterial or fungal growth leading to pain, fever, redness and pus inside the ear.
- Otitis media is the infection of middle ear commonly caused by respiratory tract problems, allergies and colds leading to pain, fever, impaired balance and hearing.
Blocked Eustachian tube
Eustachian tubes are the canals inside inner ear that helps in draining the fluid from middle ear into the throat. The blockage of Eustachian tubes is caused by infections blocking the middle ear leading to mucus plugging inside ears. These infections may include:
- Sinusitis
- Influenza
- Sore throat
- Allergies
Earwax
Normal wax inside ears is soft in texture and protects ear against external dirt particles. Sometimes earwax becomes hardened resulting in clogged ears leading to pain, ringing of ears and dizziness.
Other common causes of clogged ear includes stress, high altitudes, viral infections, narrow ear canals, regular use of earplugs, cotton buds and wearing hearing aids.
Symptoms of clogged ears
The most common symptoms of clogged ears include:
- Pain
- Pressure or ringing inside the ears
- Dizziness
- Fever
- Redness
- Pus or mucus discharge
- Itching in the ear
- Impaired balance
- Impaired hearing
Treatment of clogged ear
There are various ways to treat clogged ear depending on the cause. However most common methods of treatment at home involves:
- Valsalva maneuver
Take a deep breath and pinch your nose. Keep your mouth close and gently exhale by pinching through your nose. Avoid blowing hard and damaging your ear drum. This maneuver helps in opening your Eustachian tube.
- Toynbee maneuver
Pinch your nose while keeping the mouth closed and swallow up.
Sleeping with clogged ears
Sleep is one of the most calming state of body that plays a crucial role in relieving physical and mental exhaustion daily. Sleep can be disturbed by various factors one of which is owing to the discomfort caused by clogged ear. Here are the best sleep postures to ease the discomfort caused by clogged ear and enhance the quality of sleep.
What side should you sleep on with one ear clogged?
Sleep on your side
Sleep on the side opposite to your clogged ear with your head propped up. If your right ear become clogged, sleep on your left side and vice versa. This sleep position will raise your infected ear and will result in faster drainage of Eustachian tube.
How to sleep on your side?
- Make sure to keep your head elevated by placing multiples pillows below your head.
- In order to maintain spinal alignment place one pillow between your knees.
Sleep on your stomach
Sleeping on your stomach is an alternate position for one ear clogged if sleeping on the side doesn’t work for you. This is the least common position for people and can lead to neck and back muscles strained if not maintained properly.
How to sleep on your stomach?
- To maintain normal spinal alignment make sure to place one pillow below your head with face turned to one side with infected ear above and place another pillow below the pelvis.
What side should you sleep on with both ears clogged?
Sleep upright
Sleeping upright is one of the most effective sleep position to drain Eustachian tubes of both ears. To sleep with clogged ears less pressure is the best way to ease the discomfort. Sleeping upright lowers the pressure zones of affected ears leading to speedy fluid drainage.
How to sleep upright?
The first method is to sleep upright with multiple pillows below your head, neck and shoulders. It may lead to neck muscle strain in some cases. To maintain the normal spinal alignment with least pressure on neck and upper back muscles you should sleep upright by using wooden blocks or book stacks under the bed legs. Sleeping upright by using adjustable beds or reclining chair can also be an alternative option.
When sleeping with clogged ear the most important point to note is to prop your head up while following all sleep positions. However,This will keep the infected ear higher than the body causing the fluid to drain out of ear instead of going down to the throat. Other useful tips assisting with good night sleep involve drinking water before going to bed, chewing gums, using humidifier in the room, using heating pad on affected area, use of comfortable pillow and switching sleep positions to evenly distribute the pressure on your neck and back in order to keep your body as relaxed as possible.
