• Question: Why do our ears pop?

    Asked by lani to Chris, Emily, Martin, Natalie, Tamsin on 18 Mar 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Natalie Stanford

      Natalie Stanford answered on 18 Mar 2010:

      This guy is a bit bonkers, but he has a very good explanation for this 🙂
      http://www.bioedonline.org/body-explained/video.cfm?eid=ears-pop

    • Photo: Martin Coath

      Martin Coath answered on 18 Mar 2010:

      Hi Lani

      My ears pop every morning because I live at the bottom of a hill! The pressure of the air at the bottom of the hill is higher than at the top. This means I sleep in a “high pressure” zone. When I go up the hill every morning I go in to a “low pressure zone” quite quickly and the air in my ears is still at high pressure. My ears “pop” to allow the high pressure out and to make everything equal.

      We can do this because our ears are connected to our throat/nose by a tube called the “eustachian tube” so the air in our ears isn’t sealed in. If the air was sealed in our ears would explode when we went up in a plane 🙁

      Close your mouth and hold your nose. Now try to breathe out REALLY GENTLY. You will hear the air from your throat go up your eustachaian tube and push on your eardrum. Be VERY careful you don’t do this too hard – it HURTS!

    • Photo: Chris Cooper

      Chris Cooper answered on 18 Mar 2010:

      I knew it was due to pressure changes, but I had to look it up to get a correct answer. So to be a true scientist I will name my source: the good old BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/ask_the_doctor/earspopping.shtml

      Basically there is a pocket of air inside the middle ear. As it gets absorbed into the body it drops the pressure in the ear (the absence of gas creates a sort of mini-vacuum). This canbe an especial problem if there are sudden air pressure changes such as in an airplane. If the air can’t get back in quick enough you can find sounds get muffled and the ear seems blocked. A good hard swallow can allow the air to rush in to this vacuum, creating a “pop” sound in the process.

      In more extreme cases you can pinch your nostrils, take in a mouthful of air and use your cheek and throat muscles to force the air into the back of your nose, as if you were trying to blow your thumb and fingers off your nostrils. You may have to repeat this several times before your ears pop. You will also look a bit silly – but at least you will be able to hear!

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