Chandana Chandra explains: Ear comprises three parts ? external, middle and internal ear. Tympanic membrane separates the middle ear from the external ear. The middle ear is connected with the upper part of pharynx by a tube called the Eustachian tube. A portion of the air that we breathe in enters the middle ear through this tube. To balance the pressure within the ear for normal hearing, some amount of air enters the external ear through the external auditory canal.

Sometimes an infection, allergy, polyp or tumour can prevent air from entering the middle ear. This results in a pressure difference, which leads to the retraction of the tympanic membrane (the process by which tympanic membrane is sucked into the middle ear) resulting in the feeling of blocked ear.

“Blocked ear associated with loss of hearing can be caused by several reasons extending from wax, infection to brain injury. Anger or lovemaking may cause it as well. A clap on ear may rupture the tympanic membrane and sometimes dislocate the ossicles (tiny bones in middle ear). A wet kiss on your beloved’s ear may also cause loss of hearing,” said ENT specialist Dr Shantanu Banerjee at CMRI, Calcutta. Blocked ear is not always associated with loss of hearing. “While climbing mountains, or travelling by plane the atmospheric pressure inside the middle ear remains the same, but that on the outside reduces. This creates a pressure imbalance causing temporary ear blockage,” he added.

The question was sent by Arunima Das from Barrackpore