Plugged Ears

An old timer once gave me the tip that those menthol inhalers can work
wonders when your ears get plugged. I keep one in the bag and more
than once after a too hasty descent it's had me unplugged and feeling
better within minutes.

Clyde

I'd suggest that perhaps both of you are at the early onset of a cold or
recently recovering and there may have been some inflammation constricting
the tube to the back of the throat that balances the air pressure in the
inner ear.

Also, if you don't "keep up" with the pressure changes.. then when the
pressure becomes noticeable, it may take more effort to clear and add to
that any problems with the Eustachian tube.

In my flying career, I once recovered from a cold, was cleared by the fight
surgeon to fly, and on the flight the next day had problems such as you
describe. Some ringing in the ears for the next two hours, sounds as if they
were transmitted through water.. and then a pop. I returned to the flight
surgeon and discovered I was very close to rupturing an ear drum. Descent
rates were much higher than yours, but in a pressure cabin, most noticeable
in the last 2000ft to the ground.

B

"Fred Choate" wrote in message
...
Hey Folks...

Had an experience yesterday that I have never had. Took off in a 172 for
a local flight here in the Puget Sound area. Field elevation 500 ft. I
climbed to 4000 ft, and flew for about 15 minutes before climbing to 8000
ft to get a great view of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Rainier.
After flying for about 45 minutes, I started the descending back toward
the airfield. I descended at 400 fpm and took it down to 5000 ft, and
then 500fpm to 2000 ft, and finally down to TPA of 1500 ft. During the
descent from 5000 to 1500, both myself and my passenger experienced alot
of pressure in the ears, and both our ears plugged. I could see it was
very uncomfortable for my passenger, and I wasn't too thrilled either.

After landing, it took a good 2 hours for my ears to be back to normal,
and probably about that for my passenger as well. Just curious about
this, as I have never experienced that before. I have only 70 hours, but
have flown as high as 11500 in a 172, and never had a problem with my
ears.

I did just purchase a new headset that seals much better than the old set
I had, and this was my first flight with them, and the passenger was
wearing a set from the FBO that seals pretty well too. Could headsets
have been a factor, or is it more likely it was just a fluke situation.

Also, would it have been better to level off when we first started feeling
the pressure, and see if things would have equalized?


Fred

Both of us recently recovered from sinus infections......maybe it isn't all
the way gone yet. Thanks for the advice.

Fred

"BTIZ" wrote in message
news:%aP6f.13691$MN6.10580@fed1read04...
I'd suggest that perhaps both of you are at the early onset of a cold or
recently recovering and there may have been some inflammation constricting
the tube to the back of the throat that balances the air pressure in the
inner ear.

Also, if you don't "keep up" with the pressure changes.. then when the
pressure becomes noticeable, it may take more effort to clear and add to
that any problems with the Eustachian tube.

In my flying career, I once recovered from a cold, was cleared by the
fight surgeon to fly, and on the flight the next day had problems such as
you describe. Some ringing in the ears for the next two hours, sounds as
if they were transmitted through water.. and then a pop. I returned to the
flight surgeon and discovered I was very close to rupturing an ear drum.
Descent rates were much higher than yours, but in a pressure cabin, most
noticeable in the last 2000ft to the ground.

B

"Fred Choate" wrote in message
...
Hey Folks...

Had an experience yesterday that I have never had. Took off in a 172 for
a local flight here in the Puget Sound area. Field elevation 500 ft. I
climbed to 4000 ft, and flew for about 15 minutes before climbing to 8000
ft to get a great view of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Rainier.
After flying for about 45 minutes, I started the descending back toward
the airfield. I descended at 400 fpm and took it down to 5000 ft, and
then 500fpm to 2000 ft, and finally down to TPA of 1500 ft. During the
descent from 5000 to 1500, both myself and my passenger experienced alot
of pressure in the ears, and both our ears plugged. I could see it was
very uncomfortable for my passenger, and I wasn't too thrilled either.

After landing, it took a good 2 hours for my ears to be back to normal,
and probably about that for my passenger as well. Just curious about
this, as I have never experienced that before. I have only 70 hours, but
have flown as high as 11500 in a 172, and never had a problem with my
ears.

I did just purchase a new headset that seals much better than the old set
I had, and this was my first flight with them, and the passenger was
wearing a set from the FBO that seals pretty well too. Could headsets
have been a factor, or is it more likely it was just a fluke situation.

Also, would it have been better to level off when we first started
feeling the pressure, and see if things would have equalized?


Fred

In article ,
"Fred Choate" wrote:

Both of us recently recovered from sinus infections......maybe it isn't all
the way gone yet. Thanks for the advice.

yep - that is one possibility. I've flown after headcolds and get a little
more ear popping that normal.

--
Bob Noel
no one likes an educated mule

"Fred Choate" wrote

After landing, it took a good 2 hours for my ears to be back to normal,
and
probably about that for my passenger as well. Just curious about this, as
I
have never experienced that before. I

More than likely, you both experienced a medical condition, causing you ears
to not equalize. This time of year, it is common to have a lot of sinus
drainage due to allergies, and then some of the drainage gets into the
estasian(sp?) tubes, and causes inflammation and plugging.

If you ever have this problem again, try a quick shot of Afrin, or other
same products to clear the drainage. You have to do that after the flight,
because I believe that is a banned over the counter medication. Of course,
your passenger is free to use it! ;-)

A decongestant/antihistamine might also help, but again be careful of the
included ingredients, and the banned medications list.
--
Jim in NC

On Sun, 23 Oct 2005 07:01:42 -0700, "Fred Choate"
wrote:

Hey Folks...

Had an experience yesterday that I have never had. Took off in a 172 for a
local flight here in the Puget Sound area. Field elevation 500 ft. I
climbed to 4000 ft, and flew for about 15 minutes before climbing to 8000 ft
to get a great view of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Rainier. After
flying for about 45 minutes, I started the descending back toward the
airfield. I descended at 400 fpm and took it down to 5000 ft, and then
500fpm to 2000 ft, and finally down to TPA of 1500 ft. During the descent
from 5000 to 1500, both myself and my passenger experienced alot of pressure
in the ears, and both our ears plugged. I could see it was very
uncomfortable for my passenger, and I wasn't too thrilled either.

After landing, it took a good 2 hours for my ears to be back to normal, and
probably about that for my passenger as well. Just curious about this, as I
have never experienced that before. I have only 70 hours, but have flown as
high as 11500 in a 172, and never had a problem with my ears.

I did just purchase a new headset that seals much better than the old set I
had, and this was my first flight with them, and the passenger was wearing a
set from the FBO that seals pretty well too. Could headsets have been a
factor, or is it more likely it was just a fluke situation.

Also, would it have been better to level off when we first started feeling
the pressure, and see if things would have equalized?


Fred

I've read about a dozen replies, and not one mentioned the good old "val
salva" method of unblocking ears after a descent. Also used routinely by
anyone who snorkles or scubadives.

Pinch your nose and blow gently -- your ears should squeak and then pop,
equalizing the pressure. If it starts to hurt, stop -- you could rupture n
eardrum if you do this too aggressively. Done properly, this will clear many
cases of plugged eustachian tubes.
--
Jay.
(remove dashes for legal email address)

Jay Somerset wrote:

I've read about a dozen replies, and not one mentioned the good old "val
salva" method of unblocking ears after a descent. Also used routinely by
anyone who snorkles or scubadives.

I did early on.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.