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achy ears in cold weather/wind
In cold/cool weather, when I go for walks or do yardwork or anything else outside, or even just stand around in the cold for a longer period, my ears start to ache. If I don't cover them, it turns into moderate to strong pain. This happens even when it isn't very cold - I'd estimate it starts around 60 degrees and below, but it also depends on the amount of wind. Once I go back inside to someplace warm, the aching slowly subsides for around 15 minutes, and then I feel better.
To avoid all this, since my college years at least, I've worn ear muffs, or in recent years, a headband with ear muff material sewn to it on the sides. I used to feel self-conscious, wearing turquoise ear muffs when the weather was in the 60s or 50s and the sun was shining. But the headband I wear nowadays is brown, matching my hair color, and I'm no longer self conscious about it. If I don't have my headband, putting a small rolled up ball of tissue into each ear helps somewhat, though that is uncomfortable for other reasons.
No one else I know appears to experience this condition. But now I found a forum thread with several other people who have the same or similar issues!
Ear pain when running with cool wind
When I was a small child, I had tubes put in my ears. They never fell out on their own later like they were supposed to, so I had some minor procedure to remove them (which might have been simply putting wax-dissolving solution in my ear? I don't recall the details).
On airplane flights, during ascent and descent, pressure builds up in my ears and becomes painful. I have to close my nostrils and blow, to equalize the pressure. I think this is more common, as my family members were the ones who taught me to do the blowing thing, and they always did it too.
So I've always suspected the issue with cold weather was due to my eustachian tubes not functioning normally, or being narrower than usual.
To avoid all this, since my college years at least, I've worn ear muffs, or in recent years, a headband with ear muff material sewn to it on the sides. I used to feel self-conscious, wearing turquoise ear muffs when the weather was in the 60s or 50s and the sun was shining. But the headband I wear nowadays is brown, matching my hair color, and I'm no longer self conscious about it. If I don't have my headband, putting a small rolled up ball of tissue into each ear helps somewhat, though that is uncomfortable for other reasons.
No one else I know appears to experience this condition. But now I found a forum thread with several other people who have the same or similar issues!
Ear pain when running with cool wind
When I was a small child, I had tubes put in my ears. They never fell out on their own later like they were supposed to, so I had some minor procedure to remove them (which might have been simply putting wax-dissolving solution in my ear? I don't recall the details).
On airplane flights, during ascent and descent, pressure builds up in my ears and becomes painful. I have to close my nostrils and blow, to equalize the pressure. I think this is more common, as my family members were the ones who taught me to do the blowing thing, and they always did it too.
So I've always suspected the issue with cold weather was due to my eustachian tubes not functioning normally, or being narrower than usual.