What causes airplane ear?
This feeling is familiar to many people and especially when traveling by plane.
Airplane ear (ear barotrauma) is the stress on your eardrum that occurs when the air pressure in your middle ear and the air pressure in the environment are out of balance.
You might get airplane ear when on an airplane that's climbing after takeoff or descending for landing.
Self-care steps — such as yawning, swallowing or chewing gum — usually can counter the differences in air pressure and improve airplane ear symptoms. However, for a severe case of airplane ear, you might need to see a doctor.
Symptoms
Airplane ear can occur in one or both ears.
Common signs and symptoms include:
- Moderate discomfort or pain in your ear
- Feeling of fullness or stuffiness in your ear
- Muffled hearing or slight to moderate hearing loss
If airplane ear is severe, you might have:
- Severe pain
- Increased ear pressure
- Moderate to severe hearing loss
- Ringing in your ear (tinnitus)
- Spinning sensation (vertigo)
- Bleeding from your ear
Risk factors
Common risk factors include:
- A small eustachian tube, especially in infants and toddlers
- The common cold
- Sinus infection
- Hay fever (allergic rhinitis)
- Middle ear infection (otitis media)
- Sleeping on an airplane during ascent and descent, because you can't yawn or swallow, which can equalize the pressure
Airplane ear usually isn't serious and responds to self-care. Long-term complications can rarely occur when the condition is serious or prolonged or if there's damage to middle or inner ear structures.
Prevention
Follow these tips to avoid airplane ear:
- Yawn and swallow during ascent and descent. These activate the muscles that open your eustachian tubes. You can suck on candy or chew gum to help you swallow.
- Use the Valsalva maneuver during ascent and descent. Gently blow, as if blowing your nose, while pinching your nostrils and keeping your mouth closed. Repeat several times, especially during descent, to equalize the pressure between your ears and the airplane cabin.
- Don't sleep during takeoffs and landings.
- Reconsider travel plans. If possible, don't fly when you have a cold, a sinus infection, nasal congestion or an ear infection. If you've recently had ear surgery, talk to your doctor about when it's safe to travel.
- Use an over-the-counter nasal spray. If you have nasal congestion, use a nasal spray about 30 minutes to an hour before takeoff and landing.
- Take allergy medication. If you have allergies, take your medication about an hour before your flight.
- Try filtered earplugs. These earplugs slowly equalize the pressure against your eardrum during ascents and descents. You can purchase these at drugstores.
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/airplane-ear/symptoms-causes/syc-20351701
