We’ve all been there: You’re descending into a city for a long-awaited vacation, or driving through a mountain pass, when suddenly— thump . Your ears feel plugged, sounds are muffled, and your own voice sounds oddly loud inside your head.
The combination of jaw movement and saliva swallowing creates a continuous pressure-equalizing rhythm. This is why pilots chew gum during descent. The Classic Remedy: The Valsalva Maneuver If swallowing and yawning fail, this is the most famous "unpopping" technique. However, caution is critical. how to unpop ears
Your ears are delicate instruments. Treat them kindly, and they’ll pop back to normal before you know it. We’ve all been there: You’re descending into a
Forget polite, closed-mouth yawns. Open wide. Stretch your jaw forward. Fake a deep, theatrical yawn to stretch the muscles around the tube. (Pro tip: Looking up slightly while yawning increases the stretch.) This is why pilots chew gum during descent