Hi. I think the headphones have created injury to the ear canal and may have precipitated a canal infection. You can confirm this by trying to close your ear with your finger and see if your pain aggravates. If it does then you will need antibiotic drops prescribed by your ENT specialist. It could also be ear wax which may have gotten pushed in by the earphones and gone deeper and is now impacted causing pain and blockage. This pain will worsen after a bath when water enters the ear (causes wax to swell). If this is the case then you will need to get the wax removed by your ENT specialist. Do not use ear buds to remove wax. You will only push it deeper if you try to remove it yourself. If no pain when closing your ears, then it is not due to a canal infection or wax and probably from something within, such as a Eustachian Tube (ET) obstruction. The eustachian tube (ET) connects the back of the nose to the middle ear region. The ET is important for equalizing the pressure between the ear and the atmospheric environment. During the time when you fell asleep, secretions or mucous may have created blockage in the ET leading to a negative pressure within the ear which pulls the ear drum inwards leading to pain and feeling of blockage. Middle ear produces mucus and secretions which drain into the nose through the ET. When the ET is blocked, this fluid accumulates inside the middle ear and creates the feeling of fluid in the ear. ET dysfunction is treatable if the ET is blocked by a mucous plug or swelling. The mainstay of treatment is opening the ET. Toynbee maneuver can be tried 3-4 times a day for about a week to help unclog the ET. The maneuver involves pinching the nose and swallowing. Swallowing pulls open the eustachian tubes while the movement of the tongue, with the nose closed, compresses air which passes through the tubes to the middle ear. (When you pinch the nose and swallow the first time, you should feel like your ears are closed. After this you must swallow once again without pinching the nose. This time your ears will feel like they have popped open) In addition to this, you may require nasal decongestants, mucolytics, anti allergy medications to take care of the nasal secretions or mucus blockage. You will need to see an ENT specialist for a prescription. Hoping for your speedy recovery. Please let me know if you have any further questions.