Ear infections are the most common reason for parents to take their children to the doctor. But children aren’t the only people to suffer from ear problems.
A blocked-up or infected ear can cause a range of symptoms, from pain to mental distraction to fevers. But one of the most surprising symptoms of ear issues is nausea.
Can our ears affect nausea? If so, why do we feel nauseated when our ears are blocked? Learn the science behind the ailment as you read on.
How Your Ear Connects to Your Brain
An ear isn’t just there for hearing things. Your inner ear has three canals inside it, sensing different types of movement: Up, down, side to side, turning, and tilting.
Your ear canals are full of fluid, which, in turn, holds little cells that transmit information to your brain. That information, coupled with what you see and feel, helps you navigate the world. Kind of like a biological GPS that helps your coordination, balance, and movement.
How It Can Lead to Ear Infection Nausea
If the information being transmitted from your inner ears to your brain is thrown off-balance, it’s a little like riding a roller coaster one too many times. You’ll feel dizzy, nauseous, and like the world is spinning around you.
Causes of an Imbalance
Several conditions can cause the imbalance, leading to dizziness and nausea, as well as other symptoms. For instance, if you are prone to motion sickness, it simply means that when you are in a moving vehicle, the data-gathering cells in your ears and other parts of your body are having trouble keeping up with where you are in relation to the world. The conflicting information they then send out confuses your brain.
Vertigo can describe the feeling of dizziness, but it can also be the cause of that dizziness. If you suffer from Vertigo, small calcium crystals in your ear can become dislodged, sending false information to your brain.
Many people have excessive earwax that builds up in their ears. In addition to causing hearing problems, it causes the information imbalance that causes nausea.
Your inner ear can become infected, usually from a virus. The result is vestibular neuritis, which is a swelling of the vestibular nerve. When this happens, it has a tendency to interfere with the all-important data signals being sent north to your little grey cells.
How to Deal With Ear Infection Nausea
If you have an ear infection, the best thing to do is see your physician. An ear infection is no laughing matter and may lead to more serious conditions if not taken care of quickly. But there are ways to mitigate nausea.
Ginger is an age-old remedy for nausea due to ear infection and motion sickness or if your ears are blocked, and it’s super-effective. Experts don’t understand how it works yet, but the fact that it does puts it at the top of the list of effective nausea remedies.
If you don’t have any ginger in your house, try taking a few slow, deep breaths. Fresh air can help banish nausea and controlled, deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, keeping nausea in check.
Another good thing to have around the house is bland crackers. They absorb stomach acids.
Ever seen someone wearing a seasickness wristband when they’re on a boat? There are certain pressure points in your wrist that help relieve nausea. It’s called acupressure and it’s effective.
Ear-Brain-Body Connection
Nausea is an unpleasant symptom of ear issues, but by now you should understand how your brain is connected to your ears and nausea, as well as how to identify and deal with the problem.
There are a lot of tried-and-true remedies for ear infection nausea that will work, but there’s one we haven’t yet discussed. If you’re still having nausea symptoms, give Jet-Avert a try and feel better!
