 [ Symptoms ] how to get fluid behind the eardrum to drain i have been to the doctors several times and on several antibiotics and i have no pain in my ear but i cant hear from the fluid built up what can i do [ Disease ] there are only a few things that can be done for middle ear effusion fluid 1 you can wait it out but after three months you need to see an ent 2 decongestants nasal corticosteroids etc have all been used with limited success sometimes it helps sometimes it does not antibiotics are not usually helpful since this is more of plumbing and ventilation issue not an infection 3 an ent may need to surgical drain the fluid tympanostomy or suction and place tubes in your ears i went scuba diving for 6 days in a row last week and got water behind my right eardrum i kept hoping it would clear up but after 8 days it was as bad as ever and it would only clear momentary if i hung my head upside down with my head right side up the water rested against my eardrum and i could not hear much through that ear after reading on the web about the structure of the ear i learned that the eustachian tube connects the ear to the nose and i realized that the water was going to have to exit that tube now apparently that tube is not there to drain liquid or it would have done so already i bet it is just for air to flow through to equalize pressure probably thanks to our aquatic ape ancestors whatever it is the key and the only way to get flow though it is to take advantage of it is connection to the nose i pinched my nose and blew hard until my ears popped that is the same thing scuba divers do as they descend by the way apparently i did not do it often enough because some of that ocean water wound up on the wrong side of my eardrum and the only way it would get there is if the pressure on the inside of my eardrum was lower than the pressure on the outside where the ocean was then i pinched my nose and sucked hard until my ears popped going the other direction i was moving air in and out of my ears through the eustachian tube after doing this about 10 times the water was gone and i can once again hear through my right ear fluid in the ear is most annoying and can be damaging to your ear i caution you though about the decision to have tubes put in the ear drum to drain this fluid i had tubes in for about 2 years they fell out i actually had the little tiny plastic rings they are less tubes than just little rings of plastic most often the ear drum heals itself after the tubes fall out mine did not i now have very tiny holes in my ear drums this is a problem i cannot swim in a lake for fear the water will enter into the ear and this water can carry many nasty little bugs viruses bacteria