Help! How do you teach an 11 year old to....

[RedPoppiesAndSpots]

pop their ears?

DS has had an ear infection. Mostly OK but needs to clear his eustachian tubes as there is still some fluid blocking him up (all checked by GP and GP also one to recommend the "popping".

So he needs to pop his ears. You know, the hold his nose, close his mouth, blow-out-but-not-blow-out kind of thing. That makes your ears pop.

But he cannot seem to do it. I've tried to explain it to him. DD has tried to explain....but it doesn't seem to do anything for him....if he does it (or an approximation of it - it doesn't do anything. No popping, no pressure in his ears.

So I think he is doing it "wrong" but I'll be blowed if I can explain how to do it.....

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to either explain it to him please...or another way of achieving the same thing.........

and no, no idea how he has got to 11 without knowing how to do this

Aren't you supposed to pinch your nose, close your eyes and think of Des Lynam?

He needs to blow down his nose while it's pinched shut. A good yawn can help as well.

Hold nose, close mouth, swallow. It's difficult, but it'll pop your ears!

Would blowing up a balloon help?

I was also going to suggest blowing up a balloon. Should have the same popping effect.

If it helps with the swallowing, hold a sip of water in your mouth and swallow that.

Yes I did just try it .

Wiggling your nose back and forth with your fingers while pinching it sometimes works.

How about something less dangerous like massaging the Eustachian tube, oral decongestants and anti inflammatories so the fluid can drain naturally, warm pack to thin the fluids so it drains easier.
I can’t imagine any dr recommending “popping” due to the risk to the eardrums.

I have very narrow Eustachian tubes and my ears don’t pop. Perhaps his don’t either.

Otovent nasal balloon may be your friend here - have a Google. I found it useful at clearing fluid in exactly the same situation, after a double ear infection (although I DO know how to pop my ears!)

Oh, also, swallowing with mouth wide open and nose pinched - really hard to do, but helps with the ear clearing if you can manage it

Hope he feels better v soon....

I am the same as prosecco my ears don't pop just are very painful.

My ears literally never pop, maybe it's his ears?

Ummm what's Des Lynam got to do with it?

I'm in my fifties and have never learnt this. Watching for a new life skill.

The most I can offer after a flight, is to yawn or open your mouth wide. It's not successful very often.

From my zero medical experience but from learning the hard way as a SCUBA diving instructor - often if you can’t pop your ears it’s due to a blockage somewhere - with diving it’s usually ear wax on the Outside or snot on the inside. With him it’s presumably the fluid from the infection?

If you try and force it you end up feeling like shit and usually with a mask full of blood.

I’d try some of the other techniques recommended here and keep encouraging him every so often to hold his nose and (gently!) blow.

the des lynam reference was a tv advert from decades ago

Found it!

Ahhhhh we may have the answer here... I have very narrow Eustachian tubes and my ears don’t pop. Perhaps his don’t either.
He has very narrow ear canals apparently. As told to me with surprise by the 3 doctors that have seen his ears recently. So maybe this means he has narrow eustachian tubes too and cannot actually do it either.

And yes, it was the GP who said to try popping (demonstrating holding his nose and doing the blowy thing). Ears are totally clear - just the build up behind the ear drum.

Pharmacist wouldn't give me any decongestants (he is quite small for his age) so pointed me at Olbas oil. The smell of which made DS gag in an overly dramatic way

He feels fine now (fever/pain etc gone) but just deaf. And it is not selective hearing (have tested with offers of chocolate which his sister in the next room heard and came running but he did not .

Just tried the swallowing (both open and closed mouth) and nada. Nothing.

Looked at the nasal balloon and it says not to use in acute cases - so wary of that for now. May revisit if nothing else shifts it.

GP recommended ibruprofen to reduce inflammation. Maybe a few more doses of that will start things improving.

Who thought parenting would have you trying to work stuff like clearing other people's tubes. I love him to bits really

Thank you for all your help and suggestions by the way - really appreciate it.

And really helps finding out that maybe it is physiological not me being useless or DS being a stubborn little bugger....

I had an incision made in my eardrums surgically at one point and grommets to widen the tubes. Hopefully he won’t need that but it did help my hearing.

I've just popped my ears about 25 times thanks to this thread.

Sounds horrible @RedPoppiesAndSpots Hope he gets better soon.

@RedPoppiesAndSpots

Sorry to suggest the nasal balloon when it turns out not to be suitable; glad one of us read the usage details carefully!

Hope it clears up really soon for him...