The ears, nose and throat are all connected in the human head in order to maintain pressure balance from the inner ear. When you suffer from a sinus infection, your sinuses get clogged up with mucus. The mucus is used to pass out the infection from the body and is the body’s natural defense mechanism against infections such as a common cold. However, when you have mucus blocking your sinuses, you may suffer from the feeling of a blocked ear or pain in the ear. This occurs because the pressure on the outside of the tympanum, which is open to the air through the ear and the inside of the tympanum, connected to the nose and throat is not the same due to the mucus blocking the smooth flow of air. This will cause the tympanum to stretch when you are coughing or passing out mucus through your nose and you will suffer from pain. This sensation of a pressure difference is also caused by rapid ascent or decent as felt in an aircraft. People who are suffering from sinus blockages will almost always suffer from pain in the ears while flying.
You can try a few different remedies at once to cure your problem. For your cold you should treat it with plenty of Vitamin C. Citrus fruits contain Vitamin C and can be very beneficial to a person suffering from a cold. Lemon juice is particularly good for this. You can even consume a cool lemon juice but not extremely cold as the cold may cause discomfort to you when you already have a cold.
For the blocked sinuses and Eustachian tubes, you can try a couple of approaches to solve the problem. The act of chewing may release the pressure build up in your inner ear. This is because when you are chewing you are moving the muscles around in your head which may dislodge some of the air trapped in the Eustachian tube. When you swallow, this creates a pressure difference in your Eustachian tubes which can also release the pressure you are feeling in your ears.
One of the best home solutions for a blocked sinus passage is steam inhalation. Steam inhalation will work to dislodge the mucus that is causing all the havoc in your head. You could also add a little eucalyptus oil to the steaming water. Try to blow your nose after you have completed steam inhalation. However, do not blow hard as this could cause damage to your ear.