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

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.

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

"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)

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)

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

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]

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

"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)

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