The way it was done with me was, the flight attendants put a napkin in the bottom of the styrofoam coffee cup, filled it with a T. or two of hot water from the hot water dispenser, poured off any excess, then I held it up to my ear, open end up against the side of your face. Supposedly the steam from the cup is supposed to help open the eustachian tubes if they’re congested. Another one that didn’t work for me. I do use Earplanes routinely, even when I’m not congested. I’m telling you, I’ve tried it all, but I’m always open to anything new I hear about.
The only one I haven’t tried (or didn’t need to) is to go to my ENT’s office prior to a flight when I know I’m already congested and have him put a small hole in my eardrum with a needle. He told me he does it all the time for pilots who have to fly. Problem is, if you’re going somewhere where you want to swim, you can’t do so for, I think, a couple of weeks until the hole heals over. Twice I made appointments with him prior to flying, expecting to have him do the procedure, but when I arrived in his office, he examined me and told me to hold my nose and really, really blow, harder than I would without his permission, and I was able to pop my ears. The key then is to keep them open by popping a few times an hour, drinking lots of fluids, and do all the things busdriver mentioned.
Wow, never heard of this. How scary! Hope you feel better now.
I’ve never been afraid to fly, but this discussion is giving me pause. Sorry for all who have gone through this.
Wow I never knew this was a thing. Something similar happened to me a few years ago and I wrote it off as an extreme migraine (as the pain was similar though the location of the pain wasn’t).
Very good info, especially for people with sinus, etc issues- thanks!
I’ve had this happen several times–one of the most intense pains I’ve ever experienced, It seems to be the worst when I fly from Denver and land in a city at a much lower altitude. I now use Flonase for several days prior to flying, and it hasn’t happened lately. (Knocking on wood!)
Oh my gosh, I’m so glad to read this. One time I felt like I was getting an ice pick through my eye…I swear I felt like making them do an emergency landing for me. I have also had the intense ear pain, I feel like crying along with the babies on board. I do the nose blowing thing but never tried holding in the good ear as well.
My allergy doctor says that he never flies without sudafed and afrin. After experiencing this myself, I always use both. That pain is horrible.
It happened to me one time on a trip and it is so painful you know why babies cry. I wanted to cry too. When I had to fly anyhow with an ear infection the Doctor told me to take 2x the dose of Sudafed from behind the counter along with the nasal spray. That worked.
I have suffered from allergies for years and never fly without earplanes ear plugs http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/earplanes-disposable-ear-plugs/ID=prod353009-product.
I used to get terrible earaches and headaches while flying and then not be able to hear properly for days. These little ear plugs have been a godsend.
Thankfully this has never happened to me, but I did once get a filling the day before a flight. There must have been a pocket of air or something because I had the world’s worst toothache. The worst was that we were flying to Addis Ababa (elevation 7,500 ft) so it was still an issue even after we landed. It went away completely as soon as I got back to sea level.
Another thing you want to add to the repertoire if you are congested, is some form of guaifenesin (such as Mucinex), and again, drink lots of fluids. You really want to loosen up all that congestion so it drains, and is not getting stuck in your sinuses or eustachian tubes. If you are really congested, you want to start any sort of pre-emtory stuff a day before flying, if possible. Try to get ahead of it before you get on that plane!
I have had this MANY times and nobody believes me! Now I feel validated. The pain goes right down my neck, is stabbing and intense. I agree with deega123. Earplugs that equalize the air pressure. You put them in an hour before landing. Since I started using them I have not had a problem.
I’ve had this happen to me a few times. It doesn’t seem related to perceived congestion. I’ve been congested and been fine, and I’ve thought I wasn’t congested and then been hit by it.
Your sinuses are pretty vast and I guess there can be congestion far up there and not in your nostrils. It happened to me on Sunday. First flight was fine, but at the beginning of the second flight I started to feel those painful pin pricks in my forehead. I did the yawning, jaw cracking thing and thankfully, it didn’t get any worse. It’s brought me to tears before and sometimes I feel half deaf in one ear for several hours afterwards. It’s good to hear about the ear cup technique!