Why is Ear Pain Worse at Night?
Your ear pain worsens during the night because the horizontal position of your body promotes the constriction of the Eustachian tubes within your body. Eustachian tubes are the narrow air flow enabling passageways which are also responsible to manage the drainage of ear fluids by maintaining the appropriate pressure within your ears.
Doing so during the day time is fairly easy for these tubes, when the vertical body posture enables the tubes to dilate and promote airflow. During the night when these tubes contract, the flow of air slows down, causing a pressure difference to build up. This ultimately slows down the drainage of the fluid within your ears, a buildup of which exerts pressure on your ears resulting in stabbing ear pain.
Why Buy a Pillow With Hole in the Middle?
Pillows with ear holes in center tend to work best for side sleepers who are prone to developing earaches. When individuals with sensitive ears sleep on their side, especially the one with the aching ear, your body weight causes pressure to be exerted on your ear as well as on the pressure points in your face. This leads to incidences of ear pain in most individuals.
A pillow with an ear hole prevents the weight of your body from being supported by your sensitive ear. The ear hole acts as a cavity which tends to limit the contact of your ear with the pillow. It therefore helps to prevent your ear from getting strained and consequently developing pain afterwards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can sleeping on your side hurt your ear?
It most definitely can, especially if the side you are sleeping on has your sensitive ear in contact with your pillow. When you sleep on your affected ear side, the weight of your body tends to exert pressure on the sensitive ear. This presses on the outer part of your ear, which causes it to swell and therefore results in agonizing ear pain.
Sleeping on the good ear however, with your affected ear lifted above the rest of your body by being plopped against multiple pillows, tends to be a favorable sleeping position for individuals with ear pain.
Can a pillow cause earache?
If your pillow enables your body to exert pressure on your ears, it most definitely plays its part in developing an earache. Most pillows that aren’t designed to help you cope with your ear pain, tend to have a rather firm support with friction enabling pillow covers.
Sleeping on such pillows, especially on your side, for a long period of time can exert pressure on your outer ear, causing it to swell and become painful. Specially designed pillows with ear holes are gaining popularity for their ability to prevent you from exerting pressure on your ear while you sleep during the night.
How can I stop my ears from hurting when I sleep?
Naturally, sleeping in a way that enables your Eustachian tubes to resume their working uninterrupted can prevent ear pain from triggering. You should therefore ideally use a pillow with an ear hole to prevent additional pressure from causing pain in your ear.
Moreover, sleeping upright rather than lying down can ensure that your Eustachian tubes do not contract and constrict the air flow. So you can either sleep on a comfortable wedge pillow, an armrest pillow or plop your head on top of multiple pillows to ensure your head stays above the rest of your body. Additionally you can try heat therapy before you go to sleep, sip or swallow some fluids, or if the pain worsens take some OTC painkillers.
Does CNH go away on its own?
CNH is not exactly a critical condition and in most cases, it does go away on its own, after persisting for several months. All you need to do is ensure that it doesn’t get irritated by maintaining certain self-care techniques.
First off, you need to sleep on the side that doesn’t contain the CNH nodule, so that no pressure is exerted on the sensitive skin. Applying petroleum jelly to the irritated nodule can also help relieve the irritation caused by the nodule. In some cases however the nodule catches infection and the CNH becomes critical. At this point, your doctor might suggest antibiotics or a surgery to eliminate the nodule.
How should you sleep to relieve ear pressure?
You should sleep on a pillow with an ear hole to relieve the pressure that forms on your ears. Moreover, you need to avoid sleeping on the side where the ear pressure develops ear ache. The supine sleeping position is also generally regarded as a suitable position for individuals with ear pain. However, you would need to elevate your head using either multiple pillows or a single wedge pillow. Doing so helps your Eustachian tubes to open up and make use of gravity to drain the excess fluid from your ear drums.