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#1
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Sore ears
My wife suffers from sore ears during flight and we are facing two
commercial flights in one afternoon which she is not looking forward to. Does anyone have any good tips to avoid the pain? Thanks in advance. Calum |
#2
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Calum wrote:
My wife suffers from sore ears during flight and we are facing two commercial flights in one afternoon which she is not looking forward to. Does anyone have any good tips to avoid the pain? "sore ears" does this relate to air pressure issues? If so, she may want to have her physician check her sinuses. |
#3
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Calum,
Assuming you're talking about pain due to pressure, what she needs to do is equalize the pressure between her inner ear and the outside air in the cabin. There are several ways to do this. The simplest are to swallow or yawn. Those physical movements cause the air pressure in the ear to escape and relieve the pain. If that doesn't work, the next thing to try is called a valsalva. It's very simple and works in most cases (it's what I do). Hold your nose, close your mouth, and pressurize your lungs so you'd be blowing air if you had your mouth or nose open. It may feel like you have to press with your lungs quite a bit but it should eventually work. You can practice this on the ground to see what it feels like, but don't get carried away or you may hurt your ears. In all the above cases you need to repeat it and stay ahead of the pressure changes. It's easier to do them a little bit and often rather than wait for the pain to be bad and then try to do it all at once. Good luck and let us know how your wife gets on. Cheers, Shawn "Calum" wrote in message ... My wife suffers from sore ears during flight and we are facing two commercial flights in one afternoon which she is not looking forward to. Does anyone have any good tips to avoid the pain? Thanks in advance. Calum |
#4
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"ShawnD2112" wrote:
Calum, Assuming you're talking about pain due to pressure, what she needs to do is equalize the pressure between her inner ear and the outside air in the cabin. There are several ways to do this. The simplest are to swallow or yawn. Those physical movements cause the air pressure in the ear to escape and relieve the pain. If that doesn't work, the next thing to try is called a valsalva. It's very simple and works in most cases (it's what I do). Hold your nose, close your mouth, and pressurize your lungs so you'd be blowing air if you had your mouth or nose open. It may feel like you have to press with your lungs quite a bit but it should eventually work. You can practice this on the ground to see what it feels like, but don't get carried away or you may hurt your ears. In all the above cases you need to repeat it and stay ahead of the pressure changes. It's easier to do them a little bit and often rather than wait for the pain to be bad and then try to do it all at once. Good luck and let us know how your wife gets on. Cheers, Shawn Yes, Shawn has it just right...as an airman who flew some 13,000 hours in unpressurized aircraft with problem Eustachian tubes(sp?), I've learned what works and what doesn't. These tubes connects the throat with the inner ear on each side. The tubes are sort of 'pursed' at the throat end so that air can easily pass out of the inner ear but cannot as easily get back in. This causes problems when higher air pressure tries to get 'into the ear' as it does on descent. This causes the ear drum to be pushed inward causing pain (and damage if it progresses far enough) It's always worse if the person has a cold as the throat lining swells and makes the opening smaller (or harder to open at least) As the other poster said you need to practice 'valsalva'. One small caution here, practicing valsalva while you have a cold can force germ ridden mucus into the Eustachian tubes (so they say). I've NEVER been troubled with this even though I had to valsalva 'every time I descended'. (for 26 YEARS) I could not sleep while descending either because they wouldn't ever clear that way. I ALWAYS warn the Flight Attendant to wake me before descent, you should too (for sure) You MUST 'keep on top of it' too, it's very much easier to 'clear your ears' if they're only slightly 'blocked'. As soon as you feel a slight reduction in sound during descent, hold your nose and apply gentle pressure, keep it up and keep slowly increasing the pressure till you feel/hear BOTH ears 'pop'. One can (will) pop before the other but you must keep applying the pressure till the other one also pops. It seems that long slowly increasing pressure works best, and especially when the blockage is of short duration...don't wait to start it...the longer you wait before starting valsalva the harder it will be to get air into those tubes...if all else fails, tell the Flight Attendant about your trouble...you may need her later. Good luck...I feel for you, it's not a nice problem to have for sure... "Calum" wrote in message ... My wife suffers from sore ears during flight and we are facing two commercial flights in one afternoon which she is not looking forward to. Does anyone have any good tips to avoid the pain? Thanks in advance. Calum -- -Gord. (use gordon in email) |
#5
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Also, if you know your ears will block, take Afrin before the flight, or
early on - It will also help if the ears are already plugged, followed by blowing out as described below. I would be sure to carry some whenever I flew! Harvey Calum, Assuming you're talking about pain due to pressure, what she needs to do is equalize the pressure between her inner ear and the outside air in the cabin. There are several ways to do this. The simplest are to swallow or yawn. Those physical movements cause the air pressure in the ear to escape and relieve the pain. If that doesn't work, the next thing to try is called a valsalva. It's very simple and works in most cases (it's what I do). Hold your nose, close your mouth, and pressurize your lungs so you'd be blowing air if you had your mouth or nose open. It may feel like you have to press with your lungs quite a bit but it should eventually work. You can practice this on the ground to see what it feels like, but don't get carried away or you may hurt your ears. In all the above cases you need to repeat it and stay ahead of the pressure changes. It's easier to do them a little bit and often rather than wait for the pain to be bad and then try to do it all at once. Good luck and let us know how your wife gets on. Cheers, Shawn Yes, Shawn has it just right...as an airman who flew some 13,000 hours in unpressurized aircraft with problem Eustachian tubes(sp?), I've learned what works and what doesn't. These tubes connects the throat with the inner ear on each side. The tubes are sort of 'pursed' at the throat end so that air can easily pass out of the inner ear but cannot as easily get back in. This causes problems when higher air pressure tries to get 'into the ear' as it does on descent. This causes the ear drum to be pushed inward causing pain (and damage if it progresses far enough) It's always worse if the person has a cold as the throat lining swells and makes the opening smaller (or harder to open at least) As the other poster said you need to practice 'valsalva'. One small caution here, practicing valsalva while you have a cold can force germ ridden mucus into the Eustachian tubes (so they say). I've NEVER been troubled with this even though I had to valsalva 'every time I descended'. (for 26 YEARS) I could not sleep while descending either because they wouldn't ever clear that way. I ALWAYS warn the Flight Attendant to wake me before descent, you should too (for sure) You MUST 'keep on top of it' too, it's very much easier to 'clear your ears' if they're only slightly 'blocked'. As soon as you feel a slight reduction in sound during descent, hold your nose and apply gentle pressure, keep it up and keep slowly increasing the pressure till you feel/hear BOTH ears 'pop'. One can (will) pop before the other but you must keep applying the pressure till the other one also pops. It seems that long slowly increasing pressure works best, and especially when the blockage is of short duration...don't wait to start it...the longer you wait before starting valsalva the harder it will be to get air into those tubes...if all else fails, tell the Flight Attendant about your trouble...you may need her later. Good luck...I feel for you, it's not a nice problem to have for sure... "Calum" wrote in message ... My wife suffers from sore ears during flight and we are facing two commercial flights in one afternoon which she is not looking forward to. Does anyone have any good tips to avoid the pain? Thanks in advance. Calum -- -Gord. (use gordon in email) |
#6
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Chewing gum and having sips of drink or water.
My son has this problem, and so we give him a lot to chew and eat, which helps reduce some problems. Swallowing helps, but also the mechanical action also helps equalize the pressure by moving the tissue around the Eustachian tubes, etc. Just a though - it's worked for us. "Calum" wrote in message ... My wife suffers from sore ears during flight and we are facing two commercial flights in one afternoon which she is not looking forward to. Does anyone have any good tips to avoid the pain? Thanks in advance. Calum |
#7
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I fly for a living and I can tell you, in addition to valsalva'ing, don't drink
anything cold(with ice). The cold constricts the throat and eustation tubes preventing the pressure to equalize. Keep well hydrated, drink lots of water, avoid caffeine, keep a bottle of Afrin or Sinex handy. Calum wrote: My wife suffers from sore ears during flight and we are facing two commercial flights in one afternoon which she is not looking forward to. Does anyone have any good tips to avoid the pain? Thanks in advance. Calum ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I am BillGatus of Borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assim [General Protection Fault] |
#8
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Yes, Shawn has it just right...as an airman who flew some 13,000 hours in unpressurized aircraft with problem Eustachian tubes(sp?), I've learned what works and what doesn't. .... As the other poster said you need to practice 'valsalva'. One small caution here, practicing valsalva while you have a cold can force germ ridden mucus into the Eustachian tubes (so they say). I've NEVER been troubled with this even though I had to valsalva 'every time I descended'. (for 26 YEARS)..... I did it your way for years (mostly commercial flights as a passenger) until I learned the correct way at an FAA aviation physiology class (highly recommended BTW). This makes it MUCH easier. So it is never too late to learn. ;-) Tilt your head towards the hand you grab your nose with. This will pop the ear opposite side from which you grabbed it. Do the same but now with they otherhand and tilting your head towards that hand. I know it sounds stupid but this forces the eustacian tube to stretch and MUCH easier to pop especially if it is clogged up. The worst thing and the natual thing to do is put your head down which makes popping your ears even more difficult. Gerald |
#9
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"G. Sylvester" wrote:
Yes, Shawn has it just right...as an airman who flew some 13,000 hours in unpressurized aircraft with problem Eustachian tubes(sp?), I've learned what works and what doesn't. .... As the other poster said you need to practice 'valsalva'. One small caution here, practicing valsalva while you have a cold can force germ ridden mucus into the Eustachian tubes (so they say). I've NEVER been troubled with this even though I had to valsalva 'every time I descended'. (for 26 YEARS)..... I did it your way for years (mostly commercial flights as a passenger) until I learned the correct way at an FAA aviation physiology class (highly recommended BTW). This makes it MUCH easier. So it is never too late to learn. ;-) Tilt your head towards the hand you grab your nose with. This will pop the ear opposite side from which you grabbed it. Do the same but now with they otherhand and tilting your head towards that hand. I know it sounds stupid but this forces the eustacian tube to stretch and MUCH easier to pop especially if it is clogged up. The worst thing and the natual thing to do is put your head down which makes popping your ears even more difficult. Gerald Very good Gerald (my brother's name BTW). Yes, it's never too late to learn...I hadn't come across this one but it makes sense...thanks... -- -Gord. (use gordon in email) |
#10
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That does sound like an improvement. Thanks for the tip!
Shawn "G. Sylvester" wrote in message ... Yes, Shawn has it just right...as an airman who flew some 13,000 hours in unpressurized aircraft with problem Eustachian tubes(sp?), I've learned what works and what doesn't. .... As the other poster said you need to practice 'valsalva'. One small caution here, practicing valsalva while you have a cold can force germ ridden mucus into the Eustachian tubes (so they say). I've NEVER been troubled with this even though I had to valsalva 'every time I descended'. (for 26 YEARS)..... I did it your way for years (mostly commercial flights as a passenger) until I learned the correct way at an FAA aviation physiology class (highly recommended BTW). This makes it MUCH easier. So it is never too late to learn. ;-) Tilt your head towards the hand you grab your nose with. This will pop the ear opposite side from which you grabbed it. Do the same but now with they otherhand and tilting your head towards that hand. I know it sounds stupid but this forces the eustacian tube to stretch and MUCH easier to pop especially if it is clogged up. The worst thing and the natual thing to do is put your head down which makes popping your ears even more difficult. Gerald |
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