Hey y'all. Thanks ahead of time for your insights!

I'm printing PLA on an Anycubic Mega-S, and every time I go to remove the filament for a color swap, it jams in the extruder. Even with the release lever engaged, the filament jams because the end of it melts into a small "blob" that's wider than the diameter of the filament itself. I've tried heating up the hot end in order to feed in the filament and melt the tip a little before pulling it out, and that doesn't seem to help much. Any suggestions? I'm afraid I'm just going to break the extruder if I just keep forcing it out.

Thank you!