<p>I have a trip to the UK next week and I’m looking forward to it immensely – except for the dreaded anticipation of the most horrendous ear pain during the flight that I can never seem to avoid. I will be armed with nasal decongestant and chewing gum and have just recently got a tip for something called EarPlanes (special earplugs to deal with the cabin pressure change?)</p>
<p>Anybody got any other good tips or suggestions? I swear everytime I’m on a plane I want to howl like a two-year old in full tantrum mode during the landing…:)</p>
<p>It’s not normal to have ear pain due to the pressure changes. Are your eustachian tubes blocked or prone to blockage somehow? If so, does the doc have a recommendation specific to your condition? If it’s due to severe allergies than maybe antihistamines might help.</p>
<p>Do you have the pain the whole time at altitude or is it mostly when descending? If it’s when descending you could try clearing your ears the way scuba divers do - hold your nose and mouth closed while gently blowing into it. Don’t overdo this though so as not to damage the eardrums - just enough to pop the drum out a bit to equalize the pressure.</p>
<p>Note - I’m not a doctor so don’t take this as any medical advice.</p>
<p>I have ear pain whenever I fly but SCUBA diving has taught me some methods for equalizing the pressure.</p>
<p>1) Ear Planes are wonderful. They definitely help.
2) Hold your nose, look up, swallow. Do this as soon as you feel discomfort, don’t wait for actual pain. </p>
<p>In addition, I take decongestants–the real stuff, the banned Sudafed!–about twenty minutes before scheduled departure. I take the slow-release 12-hour kind, and I take the full dose. </p>
<p>Drink lots of hot liquids before during and after the flight. Take an empty thermos through security, then buy a cup of tea or coffee or just boiling water after security and refill it. While drinking, breathe the steam through your nose.</p>
<p>I don’t ever fly without wearing Earplanes. They can be annoying and sometimes make my ears hurt a little, but nothing like the 10 day bout of severe pain I once experienced. The trick is to wear them for at least an hour after the flight takes off, put them back in one hour before landing, and don’t take them out until you’re back in the airport. </p>
<p>Because I have had so many problems I just wear mine throughout, from airport to airport.</p>
<p>Thank you all! I will be armed with the industrial-strength Sudafed, and I’ve tried most of your other tips – except the EarPlanes. Can’t imagine why I wasn’t aware of them before now, and I will be sure to get some before I leave.</p>
<p>(ucsc_ucla dad: It may not be “normal” but “airplane ear” i’s not nearly as unusual as one might think, especially for those prone to ear infections like me, or, as you note, with allergies or issues with eustacian tubes. )</p>
<p>Those ear-planes look interesting. I hope they do the trick for you. I’ll keep them in mind if I ever have to fly with a cold (I’ve done that and it was no fun so I empathize with you).</p>
<p>Another endorsement for Earplanes. I used to have days of ear pain after flying & sometimes needed prescription decongestants to clear them…no such severe problems since I found Earplanes.</p>
<p>What they taught us in the Air Force was the “Val Salva” technique. Pretty simple, and is the standard technique for clearing the ears, taught to military flyers for over 40 years. Pinch your nose so your nostrils are closed, and while you’re holding your nose closed try to blow air out of your nose like you’re blowing your nose. You’ll feel the air pressure against your ear canals if you’re doing it correctly.</p>
<p>20 years as a back-seater in military fighters (think “Goose” from Top-Gun). Works like a champ for me, and I’ve had multiple times I’ve needed to use this technique. On the plus side, it’s free!</p>
<p>Bullet, is that for decent or climbing? Going from low ground altitude to high ground altitude or the reverse? ( New Orleans to Denver or Denver to New Orleans?) Seems like there ought to be different ways of fixing the pressure - the hold your nose and blow system didn’t do a thing for me last time I flew with a cold, but maybe I was doing it at the wrong time.
I used the earplanes since I had recently ruptured an eardrum due to an infection (my first - so strange at this age) Hated the feel but didn’t have any problems.</p>
<p>I have problems with my tubes and seem to always have ear infections (usually so minor they don’t hurt, but it’s still infected). I’m flying for the first time this September. I knew it would hurt, but now I’m hearing about these ten day bouts of pain and I’m horrified. I can’t really afford to buy anything - I might be able to find a few bucks for Sudafed, but I’ll be drowsy for a week. Wish me luck.</p>
<p>Sudafed doesn’t make you drowsy, it’s a decongestent, not an antihistimine. generic is cheap.
The earplane things that many people seem to find helpful are like under $7.<br>
Hope you learn to love flying!</p>
<p>The Earplanes are not expensive and can be worn for 3 flights. I get them at the drug store for less than $5, probably twice that at the airport.</p>
<p>Try Sudafed. I have had pain so bad when flying that I really thought I might scream involuntarily. I have trouble clearing when I scuba dive too. The nose pinching often does not work for me so I take Sudafed before diving too. If not, there’s a good chance I’ll end up hanging out up top while everyone else dives.</p>
<p>Last year I actually had an eardrum rupture on a flight… of course I had a terrible cold at the time, but it was the return leg of the flight, so I couldn’t delay it.</p>
<p>Went to see my ENT the next day, and he followed me for a couple of weeks to make sure it was healing because I was scheduled to fly again three weeks later.</p>
<p>He told me there are just people, no matter what they do prior to a flight, and including earplanes who cannot fly without risk of a rupture. He has a couple of patients who come in for a quick visit just prior to any flying. He uses a very fine needle to place a very small hole in the eardrum. He says it doesn’t hurt (maybe he numbs it up with a topical anesthetic?). I have flown many times since last summer, and I continue to have some pressure build up, although my eardrum has not ruptured again (I’m guessing there’s scar tissue that is thickened on the eardrum, making it difficult for me to keep them open during flying now). But it forces me to spend most of the takeoff and landing pinching my nose, popping my ears. I can rarely sleep on the plane anymore, as I’ll almost be asleep, then the pressure will build up to the point where I have to pop them again. I will be flying to London sometime this fall, and will most likely take the ENT up on his offer for the first time to have those holes put in.</p>
<p>Cartera - on the horrific flight that it did rupture, I had excruciating pain for quite a while prior to the rupture (after it ruptures, the pain goes away because the pressure has been relieved). I just kept holding my hand up to my ear and rocked back and forth in my seat. I wanted to scream so badly, but I was afraid if I did, it might create some alarm amongst passengers who didn’t know what was going on.</p>
<p>Teriwtt: That happened to my entire family of four on a flight once at the same time. The pilots were circling the airport for some reason so our descent lasted way longer than it was supposed to and everyone was in agony. Then we discovered earplanes. >.<</p>
<p>The decongestant is a really good idea. I should try that the next time I’m on a plane. THe worst experience I had with that was when I was flying back from Ireland with a sinus/head cold. It took over a day for the fluid to get back out of my ears, and at that point, the ears were infected, so within another day they had filled up with fluid again. I got to the doctor just in time to avoid a rupture.</p>
<p>I was recovering from a bad sinus infection and had to fly. The Dr. told me to take extra dose of Sudafed, the real one, and do the ear pop thing so I did not have a rupture. It was about a double dose if I recall. check with a Dr. I have to tell you though, you understand why babies cry if you fly with a cold or infection. It is very painful.</p>