How the hell do I relieve the pressure in my ear after a cold?

Have you tried doing nothing, and letting your ear’s heal naturally? Instead of aggravating your ears by fooling with them. You might have to go to sleep and let time take its course.

I suggest keep trying the above until you find something that works. Generally the heat, steam and Val Salva (keeping nose and mouth closed while gently ‘blowing’) and consistent use of decongestants will work, but it takes time. For pain relief, the Advil should help and you could put a hot water bottle over the area. You could also try sleeping with that ear up, or on an incline, to help with drainage. If it gets worse, or if you experience significant change in hearing, tinnitus or dizziness/vertigo, or fever, see a physician.

What I do is , when I am down, I eat hot chicken noodle soup, Pepto-Bismol, rest and ginger ale.

< Alternative medicine lady here. I have had good success using mercurius solubilus, a homeopathic. The brand I use is by Boiron. I take one or two pellets every 15 minutes. When you get relief, drop down to every half hour, then every hour, and so on. I also make sure to stay well hydrated. In general, homeopathics work best if you aren’t eating, and avoid caffeine and mint.

A good massage to move the lymph would also be really helpful. The reason is there is a lymph node just behind the ear lobe that swells up and closes off the estuation tube when you get a cold. If you can move the lymph through there and out to the kidneys you’ll be much more comfortable.

Decongestant. And chew gum. And Hot and Sour soup always clears my sinuses.

If all those tricks don’t suffice, like @zenvelo suggested a decongestant may be next. In the States you can try any allergy product with a D at the end (Zyrtec-D, etc), or afrin nasally. Be careful with afrin, don’t use more than three days in a row consecutively.

Antibiotic and some anahestimene should help .

you may require antibiotics for infection

It’s finally subsiding. I went to bed that day and the pain was gone the next morning, but it was still somewhat muffled. By yesterday I blew my nose and suddenly they popped a little. It’s not all the way there but at least there’s some relief.

I been having the same problem. I was told that the allergies are real bad this fall in the NY area where I live. I think at this point we need the winter to come so it can clear up the air and hopefully we can all clear out ears

The pain is caused by a swollen lymph node behind the earlobe. Try getting a massage, and tell your massage therapist your problem.

This will move out the accumulated lymph: Go in well hydrated, and continue to drink during the massage (you may have to get up to pee during the massage, but that’s OK). Drink more after the massage, to continue the benefits.

It wouldn’t hurt to use one of those rubber-ball things with the plastic “shooter” (I think the pharmacy calls them syringes) and blast your ear with warm water to clear-out any naughty buildup which may have occurred during your illness.

Many years ago, an ear, nose and throat guy told me that you can blast-away as hard as you want with water, and nothing will ever get damaged in there.

Under $10.00 at your local pharmacy.

Everything to gain, nothing to lose…..