The past fortnight, I had a blocked ear. It came about after going for a morning swim (which I love to do), and it took me by surprise. I’ve never experienced it before and I found the associated hearing loss very disorienting. In my case, some ear wax had trapped water in my ear canal, so I had that blocked ear feeling (without the relief of popping it!), and also loss of hearing from the outer ear.

My experience got me thinking about all the poor children with blocked ears, fluid in their ears, chronic ear infections, and as a result their loss of hearing. I have a newfound empathy for children with chronic ear issues, and how they might struggle in the classroom.

I personally struggled to gauge every social situation, because I couldn’t hear half of what was going on. If someone was speaking with me, I had to turn my head so my ‘good ear’ could hear, and I still had to use my eyes to lip-read on top of that! Patients kept telling me I was either talking really quiet or really loud, and if there was any kind of background noise I could not handle it, it completely disoriented me. I was even confused as to whether my children were ignoring me on purpose, or because I was speaking too quiet (spoiler - it was on purpose - ha!). I cannot even imagine if I were to have had both ears blocked.

Blocked ears in children

Many children experience ear infections, and in the majority of cases, they are acute, last a few days, and then resolve on their own. Most ear infections are caused from viral infections, and antibiotics are only really necessary if a secondary bacterial infection develops. The best approach in these cases is focusing on pain relief and immune health.

There are, however, a small percentage of children with chronically blocked ear canals. When you get fluid stuck behind the ear drum and unable to drain, this can lead to chronic otitis media. The most common reason for this is that the ear isn’t draining the fluid fast enough, or can’t drain at all.

Research has shown that children with chronic ear fluid can have reduced hearing, which leads to difficulty in the classroom and with learning. Depending on the child, they may present with ADHD-like symptoms - an inability to concentrate, too much wriggling and movement, maybe even a little disruptive in the classroom. Others may seem behaviourally ‘normal’ (in inverted commas because in my opinion kids aren’t meant to sit still in school all day anyway), yet while their behaviour is within normal limits, they seem to be delayed compared to their peers.

It is always important for a teacher to notice these issues, and place children who may struggle to hear at the front of the classroom (so they can see), away from background noise (which is very disorienting), and to double check the child heard what is being asked of them.

The cause of blocked ears

It is my clinical experience that if you are producing too much fluid, whether that is in your ears, or with a chronic blocked nose, or too much ear wax, there’s something your body is trying to expel or protect itself from. Usually in children, it’s a food intolerance, or a virus that hasn’t quite been cleared (or that has triggered an inflammatory response, long after the virus has gone).

Treating the underlying cause can sometimes help the issue go away, but other times you need the extra help that your GP recommends (decongestants, anti-histamines, antibiotics… depends on the cause!).

Treating a blocked ear

To unblock my own ear, I did the following:

Ensure I got a chiropractic adjustment - there is some anatomical research indicating a connective tissue connection between the eustachian tube and the upper neck - so I ensured that my neck was moving correctly to allow for adequate ear canal drainage
Attempted to remove any ear wax from the external canal - there are drops you can get from the pharmacy (which is mostly oil) - I opted for olive oil
- Please note this can make it worse if you push the wax too far in so only remove surface wax
Phototherapy patches - there is a specific protocol for unblocking a blocked ear that I used
- Please contact me for more information on what these marvellous patches can do for you
Homeopathics - as recommended by a homeopathic practitioner
Lots of laying on my side, wiggling my jaw, trying to yawn to get the canal pressure to change (I mean lots hah)

Do your children (or yourself) get blocked ears? Or does your child have unexplained learning delays, and could it be their hearing?