Hello, Just yesterday I was bent over with my head upside-down for around 25 seconds. I might have been holding my breath but I felt the blood rushing to my head, naturally. Around the time that I stood up straight, I had a sharp pain in my ear; the kind that you might get when on a plane, but one of the more extreme cases. The pain eased but persisted for another 15 minutes, on and off. Shortly after I noticed that the hearing in that ear was a little muffled. Today, the effect is persisting--I feel like there is a cotton ball in my ear canal and things aren t quite as loud on that side. Except, if I tilt my head back or forward about 90 degrees, it seems to clear up in that ear. Have I caused permanent damage to my ear?