Home again
I got home very late last night. The flight was good and even got in early, weather here was unseasonably mild, and I’m not too jet-lagged. Things still seem rather surreal.
Here’s my question, though. For the last five years or so I’ve had mild ear trouble when on planes – that is, at some point during the descent my ears (or at least one ear) start hurting. I bought some sort of special earplugs that you’re supposed to use for the descent for the purpose of preventing this, and when I’ve used them for the past few years they’ve seemed to work.
Not so last night. I’d caught a cold (not COVID) when I was out west, and it’s a doozy. One of the hazards of having grandchildren, I guess. I even lost my voice for a while, and there’s still a fair amount of coughing and nose-blowing on my part.
Fortunately the plane was less crowded than any plane I’ve been on in the last thirty years or so; I would say it was only about a third full. And so I didn’t really bother anyone because I was pretty isolated towards the back of the plane. But even with my handy dandy earplugs, my ears started really hurting about twenty minutes before landing, and although the pain went away even before we touched down, my left ear remained very stuffed and full for about two hours afterwards no matter what machinations I tried in order to clear it.
It seems back to normal now, “normal” being its usual state during a cold, which is that when I blow my nose I hear a bit of snap, crackel, and pop.
I didn’t ask my question yet, you say? Well, here it is: do you know of any products or methods to use that would prevent this kind of thing?
Depending on what you can tolerate, taking OTC decongestants before flying, or perhaps mid-flight, might help. We use Mucinex D extensively during allergy season to clear sinuses; ears are connected.
The Valsalva maneuver (pinch your nose, close your mouth, and blow) is the recommended method of clearing pressure imbalance.
The pain is caused by expansion of gas and not being able to clear that due to swelling associated with the head cold. In the USAF we would see if we could perform a “valsalva” to ensure we could clear our ears before flying.* Commercial flights are better pressurized and plenty of people fly with sinus issues present. To relive pressure we were taught to move the jaw (a lot), tug on an ear lobe, and (unofficially) to keep some Afrin spray handy if the other methods did not work.
*this valsalva refers to a technique in the ear-nose-throat realm. There is a different technique with the same name for cardio.
I suffered from sinus problems my whole life and had a career flying CG rescue helicopters. On my initial physical the flight surgeon took a look at me and said I wouldn’t qualify… he saw a deviated septum of my nose (from 3 ft away no less) and said I wouldn’t be able to valsalva. I had to prove it to him and that was that.
The upshot, is that I always carried an antihistamine nose spray in my flight suit…Afrin was the only one legal for pilots. This was a time when no one stayed home from work or shirked the readiness duty for sniffles or a cold, so I was regularly at risk. Good news was that valsalva always worked, even though on occasion it was very difficult. Never used the spray.
Hoping you’re in passable condition.
I tried all those methods and they didn’t work until they finally finally did about 2 hours later. I’m wondering why it took so long.
Antihistamines tend to give me long term sinus problems.
I’m just a barrel of fun.
Try what the others have mentioned. I’ve had 2 flights over the years when I was at the beginning stages of a cold when taking the flight. Both times I had a transfer which meant 2 landings…I know of the pain you speak…very bad. The last time was this past fall…Dallas to Nashville to Jax. After landing in Nashville I had the sense to take some advil which did help, but did not eliminate the pain landing in Jax. I had pain and a clogged ear for 4 days. Again, I feel your pain.
I do not know if this would work, but I’m a proponent of the Neti pot, and use it most regularly, not only when I have a cold. I’ve found, for myself at least, that the regular use of the Neti pot; twice a week at a minimum, more often depending upon circumstances; that my sinus cavities stay clearer, and also that my ears seem to be clearer, i.e I typically do not have ear issues, crackling or what have you, since I’ve started using a Neti pot a number of years ago when I came down with a particularly irksome sinus infection. Just a suggestion.
I chew gum on take offs and landings. Seems to help with the ears.
rbj1:
I was chewing gum the entire last hour of the fight. Didn’t do a thing.
I usually chew gum and it usually helps, though.
Get well soon.
Serious yawning works for me. I think it physically opens the eustachian tube, similar to the valsalva method. Over the counter Sudafed also works for me.
Following up on the net pot idea, possibly a saline nasal spray might help. Airplane air is quite dry.
Opening the eustachian tubes is the objective. My doctor recommended the Nasaline saline irrigation as something she prefers over the Neti pot. I don’t like the idea of irrigation and a friend recommended Xlear nasal spray which I tried and it seemed to work. The doc thought it was OK.
It’s got some natural ingredients plus oxymetazoline active ingredient. Two squirts per nostril and it cleared things up for maybe half a day.
I’ve been using Xlear spray since last year and am very satisfied.
}}} Here’s my question, though. For the last five years or so I’ve had mild ear trouble when on planes – that is, at some point during the descent my ears (or at least one ear) start hurting. I bought some sort of special earplugs that you’re supposed to use for the descent for the purpose of preventing this, and when I’ve used them for the past few years they’ve seemed to work.
Not so last night. I’d caught a cold (not COVID) when I was out west, and it’s a doozy. One of the hazards of having grandchildren, I guess. I even lost my voice for a while, and there’s still a fair amount of coughing and nose-blowing on my part.
OK, not a medical expert, but this is almost certainly your sinuses draining into your ears via the Eustachian Tube. I have rarely had it happen to me**… I think my tubes are relatively narrow, because I had lots of allergy issues as a youth and yet literally never got ear infections, and I’ve always had problems “popping” my ears with pressure changes. One reason I’ve never tried scuba diving, even though it would be enjoyable, because my ears don’t want to pop at the bottom of an 8′ pool.
For your case, I’d suggest you consult with a doctor, but I’m betting if you take benadryl or some other very effective antihistamine for your sinuses before the flight, it may help.
}}} To relive pressure we were taught to move the jaw (a lot), tug on an ear lobe, and (unofficially) to keep some Afrin spray handy if the other methods did not work.
Chewing gum and otherwise working your jaw (i.e., yawning a lot, intentionally) can help with this a lot, as well.
======
** I did have a serious case of it one time, the pilot or copilot, whoever switched off the cabin pressure on the way to landing, did it very poorly, and there was a serious pressure drop that hurt my ears, and my sinuses just poured into my ears — I literally heard/felt the flow… I had earaches for about 2-3 days after that and was hard of hearing because of it. Everything was muted.
I used to take 2 Pseudoephedrine Hcl (no other ingredients added!) about an hour before landing at an airport. Seemed to work pretty well. I have a small skull (and body), so my eustachian tubes are probably smaller than most and close up faster if any congestion. I took the “little red pills” whether I had a cold or not, to prevent the ear pain.
They used to be sold quite cheaply in all drug stores. Amazon now has a pack of 24 (Perrigo). However, about 15-20 years ago (in CA) drugstores started taking ID, rationing them and allowing you to buy only so many in “x” months, because druggies started making meth from them (a big business). Now they are by Rx (not sure if this is federal, but may be).
I would say, whatever you do, don’t take anything with Phenylephrine HCl in it! Your experience may vary, but I got really sick in a strange city after taking an OTC med that included that. Raised my blood pressure sky-high (I later figured out). I was on a road trip with a friend and had a bad cold. We had no idea what to do. Fortunately I survived, but it was scary. The Phenylephrine ingredient is OTC, even for children.
Yawning while landing also helps (but is not enough).
I’ve only had slight ears problems when flying – nothing serious to give me a strong earache.
However, it has sometimes been enough to be noticed and somewhat uncomfortable. I did try the chewing gum few times and it had no effect.
What did work was “playing” with my jaw, yawning, that sort of thing. Maybe the chewing gum was suppose to do what those actions did; it just didn’t work for me.
My ENT recommends using first Afrin right before takeoff, 20 mins later followed by Flonase, plus those earplugs you mentioned (Earplanes). If there are multiple stops, repeat at each takeoff.
In the past, I had a lot of issues getting sick on airplanes, so I also supplement with some immunity products (like ColdAway, this is an herbal remedy that you take at first sign of any cold, it’s a miracle worker!) the night before, the morning of and again right before the flight. In addition, I use antiviral essential oils (best is a mix of thyme and ravintsara) before takeoff, rubbing a drop between hands, a couple under the tongue. It also helps to clean all surfaces on and around your seat, plus the overhead vents.
This probably sounds like a crazy routine (and probably looks ridiculous to passengers sitting around me, ha!), but I haven’t had a problem since I started doing this several years ago. One last hint, if you are crossing multi time zones, consider taking No Jet Lag, homeopathic tablets, chew one on takeoff, then every 2 hours, and again at landing. Some electrolyte capsules (think Gatorade, but without the horrible taste) can also help.
Yawning or similarly opening the jaw can help. I know this afflicts babies and toddlers, and I remember when we traveled with a baby or toddler in tow we were advised to make sure they drink something as the flight descends in the last half hour. I don’t know if that applies to adults, but anything that helps to move the pathways can ease the pain. That “valsava” thing may work too, but as I recall it can be painful, because it’s more explosive than just drinking or yawning.
I see the suggestions are pretty much covered here. It sounds like your Eustachian tubes are prone to blockage, and the most likely thing to work would be antihistamines (pre-treat with a powerful antihistamine / decongestant a few days prior to travel) in addition to the gum-chewing, yawning, nose-blowing routines. Maybe start using a Neti-pot or one of those newer nasal/sinus irrigation devices a few days before travel. My sister uses hers with a pharma-grade hydrogen peroxide dilution and says it works terrifically well – she has horrible seasonal allergies that congest everything if untreated. I hope you’re able to resolve it. I find the Sudafed instant-release (instead of timed-slow-release) works the best, of course this is the one that all the tweakers are after, so it’s behind the counter now and you have to ask for it. Also, after many years of scuba diving I finally realized that I could practice yawning in a way that specifically opens my Eustachian tubes. This is what I do now and it works every time – you just have to practice until you figure out which muscles to use.
Afrin. Works nicely on nosebleeds also. Commonly used by military fliers to combat the effects of cold and alergies which stopper up the inner ear. Problem is that the body gets used to it. Cheers –
You have eustachian tube dysfunction. So do I. Relief will come with a little AA battery powered device about the size of a banana, the Eustachi ear pressure relief device. It is an insufflator. You put it against one nostril, occlude the other, turn it on, and it pressurizes your pharynx and normalizes the pressure in your inner ear. I don’t know why it isn’t more widely known. Good luck finding one – I got mine online from WalMart. Told my ENT doc about it, and he said that he recommends them. Google may be your friend, locating one. I don’t fly without mine.
I used to scoff at the idea that sugar was an inflammatory, until repeated experiments on myself I found that when I cut way back on sugar, my sinuses gradually got less congested over the course of days and when I had a sugar relapse they almost immediately got worse – in a few minutes.
I do not know if inflammation from sugar would effect your ears, but it might be something to consider.
I have always had issues with my ears when flying. I take the original Sudafed (little red pill), beginning 2 days prior to my flight. It has been very helpful.
Valsalva, yes
Sounds like everyone here is an expert, but yes… When you have a cold, the drainage of your eustachian tubes, from whence all that fluid and pressure can get out of your inner ear, tends to be blocked up. Whatever manner of drying you out, be it benadryl, afrin, etc works, should be used. Unfortunately every cold is different so sometimes what has worked in past may disappoint you. Good luck.
Just wondering if you have any experience with tinnitus, unrelated to flying.
Do you ever “hear” buzzing, humming ringing or other strange internal sounds that come out of nowhere? I started experiencing tinnitus when I was in my 60s and it definitely gets worse when flying.
My go to remedy is an over the counter supplement Lipo Flavonoid Plus tabs. They work amazingly well for the noise aspect of the problem.
If you can arrange to do so, fly on a Boeing 787.
They are supposedly pressurized to a lower effective altitude than was previously the norm, which would reduce the pressure imbalance in the first place, and thus make it easier to remove the imbalance on descent. This was ostensibly done to improve the passenger experience. There may be differences in the degree of dehumidification too, not sure.
I have not been able to verify this, since I do not suffer from the inner ear condition, or rather as soon as I have felt the imbalance, I always found it easy to clear. Besides, I haven’t flown commercially in years!
Found some info on cabin pressure in airliners here:
https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/1728/does-the-b787-dreamliner-operate-with-higher-cabin-pressure
Well, it appears for US aircraft, the 787 is the way to go! Thanks, David Foster.
I have been up to 25,000 ft in an altitude chamber by the way, prepping for some high-altitude glider flying. I climbed in a mountain wave in a glider, but was asked by ATC to stop my climb at 20,000 feet, pending passage of a 747 above. I saw him go by way overhead – wow.
By the time they let me go, I could not climb any more, so that’s my max on no motor -20K. It was glorious, and very quiet.
Years ago I was on a plane and had severe ear pain because my ear couldn’t pressurize. A flight attendant put a wet tea bag in the bottom of a styrofoam cup and microwaved it. Then, put it over my ear and the steam opened it up right away! I have used this trick several times since. It also helps with the discomfort.