Infer the eardrum is a thin sheet of tissue that separates air in the middle part of your ear from air outside your ear. what could cause your eardrum to make a popping sound as you ride up a tall building in an elevator?

The air pressure between the inner and outer parts of the ear change quickly, the popping sound are the pressures equalising.

To avoid it chew something as the chewing action open and closes the canal between the inner ear and the outside air pressure