Earaches can be slightly painful to extremely painful. An ear ache is caused by a fluid buildup due to some infection or pressure build up in the middle ear. Swimming, bathing, allergies or even cleaning your ear with cotton bud can lead to discomfort, bacterial growth and infection in the ear. Most common cause of the earache is due to plugged �Eustachian’ tubes (a small tube connecting the ear to the nose). If and when your Eustachian tubes become blocked possibility of bacteria buildup or infection, fluid will gather resulting in a painful earache. Increase in pressure leads to pain, hearing loss, itching and swelling elsewhere in the ear. To avoid ear aches and infections, one should keep the Eustachian tube free of pollutants and irritants and regularly clean the nasal passage. Try some of these home remedies for earache The greatest pain reliever is warm, moist heat around the ear. A warm compress-such as a towel rung out in hot water and pressed against the ear-brings the most immediate relief. After you take a shower or bath; blow dry your ears instead of rubbing them. Soothe the ear with the warm setting of a hairdryer. Puncture a piece of garlic and pour the juice in the ear. Garlic being a natural antibiotic will help to take the pain away. Put some mineral oil (oil derived from a mineral source, such as petroleum, because it is inexpensive and rarely causes allergic reactions) in your ear before going in the water. Wear earplugs while swimming and avoid swimming in dirty waters. Warm few drops of olive oil in a spoon. Using the dropper, put 2-3 drops in each ear after the oil has cooled down. This will help relieve pain. Excessive earwax can also cause hearing problems and aches. Put a capful of hydrogen peroxide in each ear, let it set for a minute or two, and then let it drain out. One drop of alcohol after bathing can also prevent excessive earwax. A hot water bottle wrapped in a towel also makes a comforting pillow for an aching ear. Press a dual-purpose first-aid gel pack that you can warm up in hot water or the microwave on your ear. It will make you feel better. Warm up an oven-safe plate, wrap it in a towel, and rest your aching ear right on it. The plate should be warm and comforting, not hot, Warm mineral oil may soothe a sore ear. Use a dropper to drip the oil in and gently pull the outside of the ear to make sure it goes down. If wind bothers your aching ears, wear a scarf when you're outside, or put cotton in the opening of the ear, but avoid pushing the cotton down from where you can not retrieve it with your fingers. If your ears hurt when the pressure changes, especially during descent and landing during an airplane flight, chew gum or suck on candy. The chewing or sucking will activate the muscles that send air to your inner ears, when you hear your ears "pop," you'll feel better. If chewing doesn't work, close your mouth, relax your cheek muscles, hold your nose and blow one nostril at a time gently until you feel relief. Bugged by a bug in your ear? Flood the ear till full of alcohol using the ear dropper to kill the bug, then gently fill the ear with water from an ear syringe. The reader of this article should exercise all precautions while following instructions on the recipes from this article. Avoid using if you are allergic to something. The responsibility lies with the reader, not the site, and the writer.