Terrible ear pain on flights

melissaepiphany

I am traveling with my husband this November to Hawaii (feeling super blessed and SUPER excited as this is our first big trip together) He has never flown. I've flown before, but not since I was about 14. At that time, I flew about 4-5 times in a few years. Each time, I had excruciating pain in my ears when taking off. (I know this is normal) But, my ears never popped.. By the time we were landing, (a few hours later) my ears still had not popped - just in extreme pain/pressure. The most recent time, my ears didn't even "pop" until the day after, and I found dried blood in my ears.

I've looked up everything and tried everything except for taking decongestants before take off and plugging your nose and blowing. (I've heard this is bad for you to do though?) I feel like I have a fairly high pain tolerance, and the pain I get in my ears is so excruciating on flights that I have nightmares about even flying again just for the fact of the pain! Once we are taking off, I am in a panic over my ears. I'm so looking forward to our trip, but so worried about the flight, I'm starting to feel really anxious about it! Do decongestants really help?

Do any of you have any suggestions? Or can share any experiences or advice?

GilliC

melissaepiphany said:

plugging your nose and blowing. (I've heard this is bad for you to do though?)

If your ears don't pop naturally, this is actually how they suggest you equalize on descent when you're scuba diving. The key is that it has to be gentle. It can be bad if you do it with too much force, but a gentle pressure from inside is fine. I do this quite often when my ears don't pop right away during the climb or descent. When I flew shortly after having surgery to repair my eardrum, my surgeon warned me to do this very gently over and over as soon as pressure started to build, because the pressure change could have damaged my newly-healed tissue.

I assume you've tried chewing gum or swallowing? (This is part of why they suggest that mothers traveling with infants should breastfeed during takeoff/landing. Part of it is the comfort, but a bigger part is that swallowing liquids helps the baby equalize its sinus pressure.)

If this is such a big problem, you should really talk to your doctor.

I have had truly agonizing pain when I flew with a bad sinus infection (takeoff was great and cleared up my congestion nicely, but landing I felt like my head was in a vice, and I was in tears). A decongestant would have helped me, but that's because I was congested. See what your doctor says.

FutureMrsMerati

I'm sorry to report I have the same problem, despite doing everything - chewing gum, taking Sudafed and doing the blowing/clogging your nose thing. I travel pretty frequently for work and it's become such a problem that I just had a CT scan done on Friday and will meet with an ENT doctor soon. I'll keep you posted on what I find out!

MrsAshleyH10

I've had this problem my entire life.  My ears do not pop and the pressure only builds when I try to get them to pop. Gum and swallowing do practically nothing to help.

So, what I do:

While waiting to take off, I use an OTC decongestant spray (two squirts each side, make sure you bring tissue with you)...  Before descending, I put ear plugs in and depending on the length of the flight (or if needed) I will do another squirt of the decongestant spray.  The pain is not completely gone, but it is much improved and I don't feel like my ear is going to burst.

I think this is the spray we have at home: http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-anefrin-nasal-spray/ID=prod6001633-product?ext=gooMedicines_ampersand_Treatments_PLA_Nasal_Sprays_ampersand_Drops_prod6001633_pla&adtype=pla&kpid=sku6000926&sst=60b2ad30-52e7-ef88-921b-000012b7d28b&kpid=sku6000926

melissaepiphany

Hey everyone,

thank you so much for the replies!! I'm so glad you guys understand, but sorry for your ear pain and troubles too

I am really looking forward to trying these suggestions... like I said, from my past experiences, I am literally terrified to fly again because of the pain. Like you said above, my ears feel like they are going to burst and nothing has helped, yawning, chewing, sucking on candy, none of those things. This one is also a connecting flight as well, so we will  be taking 2 planes there and 2 planes back.

I am going to try your suggestions, as well as something I found out about called "EarPlanes" I think they are like the ear plugs. I'm just curious as to how plugs help? I thought it would make it worse somehow. If you guys have had this experience and these things help you at least a bit, I will be thrilled if these ideas help me at least a bit too, thank you again!

MrsAshleyH10

I found that ear plugs work very similarly to the ear planes and they are a fraction of the cost. I think they keep the internal ear pressurized at a constant level when the in-cabin pressure changes.

Good luck and enjoy your vacation!

melissaepiphany

Woohoo!! Thank you! I am so excited to try these and hope they work. The way you described them working makes sense. Hope it works well for me. Thanks again for everything!

JoanE2012

@melissaepiphany - I don't fly anymore without a pair of Ear Planes.  I usually don't have pressure problems so I don't use them, but god forbid I get sick, those things are a life saver!  The one time I was sick (and didn't know about Ear Planes), I felt like someone was stabbing ice picks in my ear and I thought I was going to die.  

They are not super costly....around $5/pair at Target or CVS, right near the ear plugs.  I think you're only supposed to use them a couple times before getting a new pair.  Good luck, I hope they help you!  Do report back and let us know how you made out!

PS - We're flying to Hawaii next month too!

mrsb53

I've found that yawning can help get the pressure back to normal as well. Enjoy your trip!

melissaepiphany

Thank you everybody!!! I am very excited to try these Ear Planes and see if they work for me. I have had so much nervous anxiety over flying again and experiencing the pain from it!! I've tried everything (yawning, sucking on hard candies etc) but never the Ear Planes. Going to pick some up this week. Thanks again! And enjoy your trip to Hawaii as well JoanE2012!!! What island are you going too?

JoanE2012

@melissaepiphany - Just make sure you read the directions.  I think you need to put them in before takeoff and maybe about an hour before landing. 

We are staying a couple nights in Oahu (really just to see Pearl Harbor) then heading to Maui.  You?

melissaepiphany

The Ear Planes worked about 50/50! We had to take 3 flights there, and 3 flights back. All 3 flights THERE were amazing, I had hardly any discomfort. A tiny bit of pressure, but absolutely NO pain, which is HUGE for me because it is literally the worst pain I've ever experienced before I ever used them. (I've never had a baby though, lol)

The way back was totally different unfortunately. Our first flight - going up, my right ear was fine, and the left got in terrible pain. All of a sudden it "popped" and I felt warmth in my ear. I wiped the inside of my ear with a kleenex and my ear was bleeding! The next 2 flights were ok, however my left ear was already bothering me and kept bothering me for several days. It's 2 months ago now and I am STILL getting dried blood out of my left ear when I clean them. Sorry for the gross detail.

However, with having to take 6 flights total, have only 1 bad flight (who knows why) I am still in love with these things and will never ever ever fly without them now!

JoanE2012 said:

@melissaepiphany - Just make sure you read the directions.  I think you need to put them in before takeoff and maybe about an hour before landing. 

We are staying a couple nights in Oahu (really just to see Pearl Harbor) then heading to Maui.  You?

We stayed a couple nights in Oahu with family, and then went to The Big Island for the rest of our trip!!! It was AMAZING! Did you love Hawaii?!

JoanE2012

@melissaepiphany - Awww, I'm glad you didn't have any problems going over, but sorry to hear the return flight wasn't as good.  Did you put in a new pair for the return?  I think you're only supposed to wear them for a couple of flights.  Not sure if that would make a difference or not though.   Perhaps you can ask your doctor next time you go for a visit what he or she thinks.....maybe they can recommend something.

So glad you had a great trip!  We LOVED Maui too.  We're hoping to return soon and visit the Big Island next!