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Ear won't pop after flight
Talka
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I flew from NJ to California two days ago, and my left ear never re-popped during landing. It's slowly driving me insane.
I've tried everything that I've heard works: chewing gun, swallowing often, yawning, sneezing, holding my nose and blowing, taking decongestants, sleeping, and jumping up and down with my head tilted. Nothing's popped it back so far. I've slept on it two nights in a row and it's so freaking annoying. I think it's worse because I have a head cold which is just exacerbating the situation.
What do I do? Is this serious enough to warrant a trip to the doctors? Do I wait it out? Any other tricks or medicine I should try taking?
I've tried everything that I've heard works: chewing gun, swallowing often, yawning, sneezing, holding my nose and blowing, taking decongestants, sleeping, and jumping up and down with my head tilted. Nothing's popped it back so far. I've slept on it two nights in a row and it's so freaking annoying. I think it's worse because I have a head cold which is just exacerbating the situation.
What do I do? Is this serious enough to warrant a trip to the doctors? Do I wait it out? Any other tricks or medicine I should try taking?
Talka on
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If you have a head cold, pressure from a flight can easily make matters worse in your ear. Doctor, antibiotics, and ear drops are a must. Trust me....i've had tubes in my ears and a spinal tap because of ear infections. They SUCK.
but eeehhhh, i dunno...heh. i think it is.
I say that because an ear infection is a whole other level of pain compared to an ear that wont pop. To get an ear infection at any age near adulthood is pretty uncommon and as I said...this sense of ears not popping has happened to me a couple of times in my life and I travel pretty frequently. Of course...if it persists go see a doctor.
colds are viruses.
infections are bacterial.
I second the anti-inflammatory, but I finding eating something spicey, like some Jalapeno pepper, often helps. When your body reacts to the capsaicin, it increases mucus production in an attempt to flush the irritant from your nasal cavities, and this often results in the Eustachian tubes clearing as well.
I never fit into that whole "more common in kids than adults" thing because ive had more ear infections as an adult than i have as a child.
While colds are different than bacterial viruses, it still can play a major role in it. Look it up. 99% of the time, my ear infections are caused by a cold. Maybe this is just me, i dont know...i would like to think otherwise because that is just bizzare.
I wouldnt accept an answer of "eh, it will go away eventually. i dont know what it is but it should be gone soon...and if it isnt, go see a doctor". Fact is, OP has pressure in his ear for over 2 days straight. Unless someone can tell me that is "normal", i would suggest doctor, which has a high chance of being related to your cold.
Dont take ear pain lightly...i did, and now my left eardrum is composed of nothing but scar tissue. Sorry if i seem a little paranoid, but it takes 1 person to put things in a different perspective.
You are at a much higher risk for ear infections during/after a cold.
I should know, my wife just finished getting over a cold and now she has an ear infection :P
It started out as pressure in her ear like indicated above, but eventually turned into pain. If there's no pain and you don't have a fever, I doubt it's an infection.
I pretty much always get the "ears won't pop" syndrome when I fly. It worried me very much the first time it happened; after a few days I went to a doctor and he just sort of shrugged and said "It will pop eventually". Kind of worthless advice since spending your time with everything sounding like you're underwater is unpleasant.
I suspect my ears are just naturally shaped to trap the eardrum or whatever it is that moves before your ears pop.
ANYWAYS - I have a solution. And it's not ENTIRELY safe, so this is not medical advice, go see your doctor, yada yada, but it is documented. I do it every time after I debark a flight, usually in an airport restroom since I look a bit silly doing it.
It's the Valsalva Maneuver
What I do:
1) Pinch shut my nose with one hand - tight
2) Hold mouth shut tightly. Tongue against back of teeth tightly to seal.
2) Attempt to exhale through my nose - this doesn't work, because nose is sealed tight.
3) slowly increase air pressure in my head by pushing harder and harder against with lungs against two sealed airways.
What always happens is that air pressure in my sinus cavities increases steadily, and eventually my eardrums pop out like they should. It's a genuinely strange sensation, often I "hear" strange creaking noises and there is sometimes a bit of light soreness in my ears following it. It does work though and it restores my hearing.
Again - I don't recommend it - I'm not a doctor - I suppose you could do damage to your eardrums especially if you have an ear infection
...but I fucking hate the damn "plugged ear" feeling and I do this every time I fly.
What's going on when your ears pop?
Why do my ears hurt when I fly in a pressurized jet?
If you do have an ear infection, trying to push out your eardrums could do some real damage. See a doctor first to rule out infection.
Despite your forewarning with this is bad advice, this is *really* bad advice.
The first thing we are taught in scuba diving, is that if you can't equalise easily (only applying a medium pressure, not forcing it) then you don't equalise and you don't dive. Too much pressure can burst an ear drum (pressure either way)
Satans..... hints.....
Fair enough. Go see a doctor.
Tilt your head back. This alone allows your eustation tubes (the ones that hold the air that makes your ear hurt when it expands during the aircraft decent) To be wide open and not bent. Next while your head is back plug your nose and exhale through it. This is called val salvo. Divers do it as well.
If you have a cold your tubes could be filled with fluid that has expanded air in solution inside them. No amount of val salvoing is going "CLEAR" your ears as the air is in solution and the fluid itself is whats causing the pressure. If you cant clear your ears you shouldn't fly or you will be very unpleasant during the decent.
Now if you do this and one ear is clearing and the other is not. Turn your head to the side of the clearing ear. with the non clearing up and try again.
It may take several trys. It also can come back. If you have a cold and the gas is in solution you may valsalvo on the way down and then wake up in the middle of the night and feel the same pressure again as more gas comes out of solution inside your head.
or you have an ear infection.
If you cant valsalvo it out go to the dock and get them to blast some affrin up into your sinus. That should help dramatically.
Doctor, please!