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Galley Gossip: Blocked ears - how to ease the pain in flight
You're on a flight trying to get a little rest when the kid whose been kicking your seat for the last half hour suddenly begins to scream.You do what any normal passenger would do and spin around, shooting the parents an evil look. When that doesn't work you ring your flight attendant call light and ask the attendant if perhaps she can help, all the while thinking thank God we're landing soon. What the heck is wrong with that kid! Blocked ears. Altitude changes increase air pressure as the plane lowers. The change in pressure pushes the eardrum inward. Because children have relatively narrow Eustachian tubes, they may not function as effectively as an adults', especially if they're clogged by an inflammation or ear infection. Blocked ears can cause severe pain, dullness in hearing, and can occasionally lead to hearing loss.
What a parent can do
- Don't allow the child to sleep during descent
- Find something to suck on; a bottle, pacifier, gum or hard candy
- Postpone any future air travel if a cold, sinus infection, or allergy attack is present.
- Ignore the jerk seated in front of you.
What to do when your own ears hurt
- Steam helps. Many passengers will ask for wads of hot wet paper towels stuffed inside plastic cups that are then placed over the ears. The steam seeps from the cloth through the cup and into the ear. But because so many people have been burned using this technique, flight attendants (at my airline) no longer do this.
- Chew gum or constantly swallow or yawn during descent. This allows the muscles in the Eustachian tube to contract and open, equalizing the pressure. When you hear a clicking noise, you'll know it's working.
- Use a nasal spray or decongestant. When you're feeling congested, use it a few hours before the flight and also an hour before landing.
- Do the Valsalva maneuver. This is the best way to clear clogged ears. Pinch your nose and close your mouth while forcibly exhaling through your nostrils. Continue to do this periodically until landing.Once on the ground do not use Valsalva maneuver.
Are your ears bothering you after a flight? Do what I do and try taking taking a hot steamy shower and drink plenty of hot tea. If plagued with ear pressurization problems, invest in a pair of disposable ear plugs like EarPlanes which can be found online and at local pharmacies in sizes for both adults and children, and don't leave home without them!
Photo courtesy of TomD
Filed under: Airlines, Travel Health, Galley Gossip
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Stephen Jun 11th 2010 12:46PM
Your > Take Home Message....
Use a nasal spray or decongestant. If you're feeling congested use it a few hours before the flight and also an hour before landing.
do not wait for Child Cogenstion or Crying issues .. use before flight to give med chance to tkae effect.
Charley Jun 11th 2010 1:51PM
Just pop a Xanax in his juicebox.
MAGGIESMOM Jun 13th 2010 5:07PM
Is that what your parents did to you Charley.. Must be because you have no BRAINS!!
WhatAreYouThinking Jun 13th 2010 5:10PM
You can not give a kid Xanex! It can kill them! Good Gawd..
And I can say first hand that it is so freaking painful if you've got a sinus infection or cold or anything and the plane starts to land. My ears felt like they were going to explode. Had this happen twice, after that I discovered EarPlanes ( the ear plugs specially made for airplane passengers with ear issues). The work great. The plastic is soft, but it does start to hurt the skin in your ears after a bit but its worth it not to have that pain from your ear drums. The second time I had that happen, I was with my sister, her fiance, a family friend, and my mom. Everyone except my mom was in tears from the flight. So, I can tell you. It hurts like crazy. Next time you see a baby start to cry on a plane, just imagine that kid feels like his ear drums are about to pop and bleed.
Susan Jun 13th 2010 6:55PM
I think Charley is making a joke..Lighten up..That is the thing that sucks about emails, cannot hear the person's tone of voice or sarcasm behind the comment..
Greg M Jun 11th 2010 2:25PM
Heather,
I occassionally have kids crying from this on my flights. I have a fun way that helps their ears and ends their tears. We do Monkey Sounds. I have the kids jut their lower jaw forward and go "OooOooOoo" like a monkey.
This action pulls the euctachian (sp) tubes forward, and drains the pressure from the ears. It also makes them laugh, and cheers them up. Plus, its a riot to get the adults around them doing the same. Theres nothing funnier than a whole section of the plane doing monkey noises.
Give it a try next time your ears are clogging.
Wilson Jun 15th 2010 4:24AM
Please do not promote procedures which have no supporting evidence. A series of meta-analyses have found that chiropractic treatments have no effect on any medical condition beyond lower back pain. Spinal manipulation can be dangerous, and under no circumstances should a child be subjected to this.
Dr. G Jun 13th 2010 2:17PM
Chiropractic care is wonderful for treating many ear problems. One thing in particular that usually makes flying pain-free is adjusting the cartilage of the ear. Not all chiropractors are trained in this technique but it works very well if you find one that is. My patients and their families would stop by my office on the way to the airport and everybody would have their ears adjusted. I never charged for this service my patients were extremely thankful for the uneventful flights they would have.
Bob Jun 13th 2010 5:26PM
You are a quack...or at least you would be if you were a medical doctor. I wouldn't let you touch my spine...why would I trust my ears to you???? LOL
Traytable Jun 13th 2010 2:34PM
At my last aviation medical, my specialist told me to discontinue advising passengers to use the Valsalva. He said it is a LAST resort, and better suited to scuba diving where more force is needed due to water in the ears, not so much for alitiude-related pressure.
At one of the airlines I worked for, we were actually forbidden to even mention it. Ditto for the cups on ears and anything involving hot water. Best method is the decongestant and/or yawning as you mentioned.
I personally find that yawning while moving my jaw from side to side seems to have the best effect. Obviously everyone'sears and face shape are different so the 'magic spot' where you get the most effect will vary.
Another FA Jun 13th 2010 3:54PM
Another thing I'd add for the kids: breastfeed. If a baby is breastfed, doing so on descent is a lifesaver! It's more effective than sucking on a bottle or pacifier because it typically requires a stronger suck (and more movement in the jaw), and nothing soothes a hurting or fussy baby better than nursing. Unfortunately I know tons of breastfeeding moms who are reluctant to nurse on planes due to a few awful incidents making the news....please don't forget to include a little encouragement for them in pieces like this. A few kind words go a LONG way!
gabi Jun 13th 2010 2:40PM
No. ONE "CURE":
Ask the pilot to PRESSURIZE THE CABIN PROPERLY and to ascend and descend properly (in conjunction with cabin pressure.) There's no reason, other than carelessness, for us to suffer for entire flights! @#$%^&*
:-( :-)
sondbr Jun 13th 2010 2:55PM
Put your fingers in your ears! You can buy the little foam things to put in your ears that are to ease ear pain when flying - fingers work just as good and don't cost anything. I've done it numerous times and it works! If you can plug your kid's ears, should work for them, too.
Gaylord Williams Jun 13th 2010 3:13PM
a physician friend of mine used the valsalva maneuver to relieve ear pressure on a landing flight. He blew out both his inner ear windows (the round and oval windows) in his left ear - becoming instantly deaf in that ear -and rendering him dizzy and unstable for a while. If you must use this method , do it gently.
Traytable Jun 13th 2010 3:25PM
Gabi, it's a fact of life that at somestage of a flight, someone'sears are going to hurt. It's a consequence of changing altitude. The same thing happens in elevators as well. It's got nothing to do with flying 'properly'. At certain stages of flight, if they went any slower they'd crash!
Craig Jun 13th 2010 3:24PM
Pinching your nose and FORCIBLY blowing out could pop your eardrum. It happened to my brother.
Kathy Dyer Jun 13th 2010 5:54PM
I am 50 years old and have problems with my ears hurting for many years now. After seeing a specialist to find out why my ears hurt only during the last 1/2 hour to 20 minutes during the descent, he couldn't find anything wrong. I now use earplanes and chew gum. The earplanes seem to help quite a bit but I still have ear pressure, but not as bad. I make sure to only take direct flights, since descending more than once is really not an option, due to pain. This probably isn't that helpful, but just to let you know that adults have ear problems too!
Bob Jun 13th 2010 5:28PM
The cabin pressurization is automatically controlled. You obviously know nothing about avionics. Other than a cabin pressure dial and a cabin dump switch, there is nothing he can do....
Shirley Jun 13th 2010 6:22PM
Both of my eardrums ruptured when I was an infant from a severe infection (no antibiotics then). The left eardrum ruptured once when flying (about 20 years ago). Since I fly quite a bit and the pain was excruciating, I purchased, for a couple of dollars, little plastic gadgets, little plastic corkscrews, called "EarPlanes" If you put these in about an hour before scheduled landing, (actually when the plane begins its descent), there will be no pain. Do not think you can use them for children but they have been lifesavers for me because there are no after effects after landing, either.
Rational 1 Jun 13th 2010 6:18PM
Avionics refers to the electronics used in aerospace vehicles.