Your ears feel like they need to pop like when flying but unable to do so?

Answer 1

That feeling comes from unequal air pressure between the external ear canal and the middle ear. It is normally relieved, or equalized, by action of muscles that open the eustachian tube, a channel that runs from the back of the throat to the middle ear. Some people have the knack of "popping" their ears; others don't, and it's a difficult knack to teach. Fortunately, there's a trick that works for most people. The muscles that open the eustachian tube are attached to the soft palate (on the roof of the mouth). Those muscles go into action when we chew. For that reason, chewing a piece of gum will eventually result in the contraction of those critical muscles, and the ears will "pop." (Why chew gum? Because the chewing can be continuous without our having to replenish what is being chewed.) If you are in a pressurized cabin or the elevator of a tall office building, the difference in air pressure will be small, and as long as there is no pain, no harm will result if you wait until you return to lower levels, when the pressures will again be equal, and the need to "pop" your ears will disappear. If your ears do "pop" at high altitudes, then you may have to re-pop them when you return to lower levels.