Ears hurting when planes land.

Fenris · 20 Dec 2010 at 01:31

guyfawkes5 said:
It's the change in air pressure; chewing something or trying to blow out your nostrils while holding your nose should help your inner ear readjust.

This. Most important thing is to do it over time, don't wait until your ready to roll around in pain as that will only lead to more pain and the chance of over pressurisation.

If you don't feel like doing that, just suck on something or yawn a lot.

int said:
That's a great way to push small amounts of fluid into your middle ear and get an infection.

Swallowing lots aided by sweets/drinks should help

Are you a doctor? I've been scuba diving for 8 years and I've never heard anyone mention experiencing any medically adverse effects from the Valsalva Maneuver (yeah, it's a maneuver) besides the tiny risk of over pressurisation mentioned above, hell it's used globally by divers to relieve inner ear pressure, if it was dangerous I imagine someone would have passed around a memo, unless it's due to the differences between high/low and low/high pressure equalisation.

ProOrWhat · 20 Dec 2010 at 01:32

My girlfriend says ear plugs work well.

bliss · 20 Dec 2010 at 03:55

I find it depends on the plane unless it's a big coincidence.

In october i took a round trip, UK > Hong Kong > Kota Kinabalu > Kuala Lumpur > UK. The flights in and out of the UK were fine (747s) however the 2 shorter flights to and from Kota Kinabalu gave me quite a bit of ear pain (737s).

"andy" · 20 Dec 2010 at 04:33

bliss said:
The flights in and out of the UK were fine (747s) however the 2 shorter flights to and from Kota Kinabalu gave me quite a bit of ear pain (737s).

steeper/quicker ascents and descents will make a difference because the pressure change will happen more rapidly

Overslop · 20 Dec 2010 at 05:21

The trick of the trade is to lightly squeeze the sides of your nose, tilt your head up slightly and face the person next to you. Force pressure through your nose as fast as you can and you'll be sorted in no time.

Alternatively applying some Colman's mustard to the inside of your nostrils works well.

Richie · 20 Dec 2010 at 06:06

Fenris said:
.... if it was dangerous I imagine someone would have passed around a memo, unless it's due to the differences between high/low and low/high pressure equalisation.

TBH, the body seems to be much better at equalising pressure as you rise in height than when you lower in height... (higher sinus pressure being released "automatically" whereas you need to use the technique you mention above as you go down)

As a diver I will bet there has been a few times that, as you surface from anywhere more than circa 10 feet (1 atmos) you end up with a face mask full of snot as the pressure changes

(always amused me that LOL)

neodude · 20 Dec 2010 at 07:13

tres said:
hold your nostrils and blow

Always works for me.

PapaLazaru · 20 Dec 2010 at 07:37

Just man up and deal with it?

Freefaller · 20 Dec 2010 at 07:41

I don't suffer from it so from that respect I'm quite lucky, but having seen some friends in a lot of pain I know that clearing it by either chewing, yawning or blowing on your nose does work well. It can affect people quite a lot.

[FnG]magnolia · 20 Dec 2010 at 07:50

JAzz said:
Have you tried swallowing when you get the funny feeling in your ears? Usually helps for me.

This is so close to being the best poster name/post combo EVER!

:mad:

The_blue · 20 Dec 2010 at 08:06

Ask a diver about ear pressure. It's out number 1 subject

(that and not dying under water).

Ear pressure build up on a flight/dive is caused by blocked eustachain tubes.

To achive any kind or pressure equilisation you need to unblock these. 9/10 an over the counter decongestant will clear them up. Start 48 hours berfore flying.

After that try the Valsava maneuver, a posh way of saying hold your nose then blow till you feel the pop. If you try it now and get no pop then the tubes are blocked. Jutting your lower jaw out at the same time helps with this and the swallowing method. Blow no harder than you would if blowing out birthday candles - I bet your your all doing it now

What the manover does is force air up your tube to relive the pressure difference between the inner ear and the outside world. Normaly this is a narural balance but rapid assending or decending isn't natural so help is needed.

The key is to start this before you even take off. Once you feel the pressure it's harder to remove. Divers often have to accesnd a few meter and try again. Not an option on a 747. Poping your ears more often will help

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver

The_blue · 20 Dec 2010 at 08:13

Richie said:
As a diver I will bet there has been a few times that, as you surface from anywhere more than circa 10 feet (1 atmos) you end up with a face mask full of snot as the pressure changes (always amused me that LOL)

1 atmosphere/bar is 10 meters or 30 ish feet.

Well technicly 10 meters is 2 bar, 1 for the 10 meters under and the one from the surface air.

Cosimo · 20 Dec 2010 at 08:23

tres said:
It's all about equalising the pressure.

Same as diving - hold your nostrils and blow

That's what I do.

h00fzilla · 20 Dec 2010 at 09:05

Decongestants - Sudafed spray and tablets. Keep making sure that your nostrils are unblocked on the descent.

I get this really bad on long haul descents. Sometimes it manifests in horrific shooting pains in my eyes, forehead and nose. Then, for a few days afterwards I have blood in my phlegm. Nice!

Building Candy · 20 Dec 2010 at 09:08

h00fzilla said:
Decongestants - Sudafed spray and tablets. Keep making sure that your nostrils are unblocked on the descent.

I get this really bad on long haul descents. Sometimes it manifests in horrific shooting pains in my eyes, forehead and nose. Then, for a few days afterwards I have blood in my phlegm. Nice!

Pretty much the same for me, last tim eI flew I thought my head was going to explode when landing. wish there was an easy way to make yourself yawn.

Overslop · 20 Dec 2010 at 09:09

Building Candy said:
wish there was an easy way to make yourself yawn.

Bring a laptop and read GD?

B@Th*nG · 20 Dec 2010 at 09:19

The_blue said:
To achive any kind or pressure equilisation you need to unblock these. 9/10 an over the counter decongestant will clear them up. Start 48 hours berfore flying.

THIS. i get pretty severe head/ear pain on most flights so take sudafed and it works just fine. i recommend you do the same!

h00fzilla said:
Decongestants - Sudafed spray and tablets. Keep making sure that your nostrils are unblocked on the descent.

I get this really bad on long haul descents. Sometimes it manifests in horrific shooting pains in my eyes, forehead and nose. Then, for a few days afterwards I have blood in my phlegm. Nice!

this is what i get too, unless i take the Sudafed

B@

Richie · 20 Dec 2010 at 09:28

The_blue said:
1 atmosphere/bar is 10 meters or 30 ish feet.

Well technicly 10 meters is 2 bar, 1 for the 10 meters under and the one from the surface air.

My bad... it's been a while since I did this stuff

I do miss it

ntg · 20 Dec 2010 at 09:35

The_blue said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver

This.

Had the same problem, tried all sorts of chewing gum, yawning and whatnot - nothing worked until I figured out how to do the "blow your nose" trick.

Now I'm a happy flyer.

MOOGLEYS · 20 Dec 2010 at 10:01

Never once had problems flying on a VC-10 as all the cabin pressure is maintained by the engineer manually, As long as he keeps an eye on things and regulates the pressure you will never get poppy ears. Modern jets use automated computer controlled systems which are crap and which cause most of the problems but its cheaper than having an engineer....