# Aeroplane Ear...remedies? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624 "2014-08-02T04:28:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/1 "2014-08-02T04:28:42Z")
Spent a weekend away last weekend and flew home on Monday afternoon. Normally I’m a shocker on the descent from a flight but Monday was a lot less painful than I’ve ever experienced. Except I’m still as deaf as a post. I have to have the telly up full bore, and even normal conversation (one on one) is apparently beyond me now. What makes it worse is that I have minimal hearing in my left ear anyway (otosclerosis) so any reduction in the right-ear function is pretty dramatic. So, gimme your stories and your remedies. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/2 "2014-08-02T05:20:45Z")
Got to learn to clear your ears. I hold my nose, close my mouth and blow when descending. Start early and keep it up. Chew gum. Don’t fly. Swallow Wiggle jaw Tell pilot to go back up for a minute. Kiss pretty stewardess. Yawn while wiggling jaw & ears. Sleep though it. Take generic Mucinex Do all the above. Now start over. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/3 "2014-08-02T05:34:06Z")
My ear-canals are pristine thankyewverymuch. Apart from telling the pilot how to do his job, swallowing Mucinex and kissing the pretty steward (pretty sure he was gay and probably wouldn’t have appreciated a sloppy face-eat from a frumpy middle-aged woman) I did all the rest, even rinsed and repeated a few times. As mentioned, I had bugger-all pain on the descent…I’m thinking now I might have preferred the _ **HOLY FUCK MY HEAD IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE** _ sensation that is short-lived rather than this extended deafness thing. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/4 "2014-08-02T05:48:28Z")
Might want to see a doc. In future, although you could try now in a closing the barn doors behind horse way, here’s what doc has advised me to do when having trouble with nasal blockage or ear clearing before I get on a plane. Might help? sudafed - the stuff behind the pharmacy counter (pseudoephredrine). Not the not quite as good stuff you can get on the aisle. It should help clear things out. Nasal spray You can also try steam and hot compresses. At this point, although IANAD, it really should have cleared up. I think you should consult a professional. I base this on flying a heck of a lot myself and the occasional uncooperative ear. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/5 "2014-08-02T06:04:43Z")
Yeah, seeing a doc on Wednesday (for other stuff, but I’ll get him to diagnose me on the ear thing too). Just hoped somebody might have some fair-dinkum home remedy that never fails! > [@](#): > > Got to learn to clear your ears. Ahhh, shit, I’m blind too…I originally read that as **CLEAN** your ears. Fuck, I’m falling to bits. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/6 "2014-08-02T21:03:32Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > ::: snip ::::: > Ahhh, shit, I’m blind too…I originally read that as **CLEAN** your ears. > > Fuck, I’m falling to bits. > > :eek: Not to worry, I stick all kinds of hard skinny things in my ears to clean the wax out. I can’t stand having it in there. Everybody screams I’m going to make myself deaf. Sometimes after a long day at high altitude, I clear normally and all is well… I think. Then about 2 hours later I slowly lose my hearing and have to clear my ears again. And sometimes I have to suck in because I went too far the other way… Now, did you say something? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/7 "2014-08-02T21:39:18Z")
I wasn’t flying, but returning from a trip to Denver. My ears never popped on the descent out of the mountains. Several weeks later, I was still hard of hearing but without any other symptoms. When I finally went to the doctor, I was diagnosed with severely congested eustachian tubes and put on antibiotics and decongestants. It cleared up within a couple of days. So, I suggest trying a good decongestant like pseudoephedrine, the kind you have to ask the pharmacist for even though it’s OTC. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/8 "2014-08-03T06:27:39Z")
Gave up going ‘HUH, WHAT, PARDON, CAN YA SPEAK UP??’ and went to another doc this afternoon, whereupon he diagnosed **severe** inflammation and prescribed a short course of oral Prednisolone and some ear drops as well. Hoping it does the trick, but otherwise I still have my Wed appointment. But damn deafness is freakin’ awful. As I mentioned upthread, I’ve suffered with otosclerosis for many years, so my hearing is dodgy already. My right ear (the one now affected) got hearing restored after a stapedectomy years ago. My left ear has had two attempts, with both stapedectomies failing. This episode has inspired me to give my left ear ONE MORE CHANCE to redeem itself. Calling my surgeon on Mon morn to book in for the op! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/9 "2014-08-03T15:32:05Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I hold my nose, close my mouth and blow when descending. [Valsalva maneuver](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver). 😉 > [@GusNSpot](#): > > Not to worry, I stick all kinds of hard skinny things in my ears to clean the wax out. I can’t stand having it in there. IANA doctor, but I believe the pressure problem is not wax inside the ear (i.e., the stuff you can try to dig out), but with a blockage in the Eustachian tube. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/10 "2014-08-03T20:49:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Valsalva maneuver](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver). 😉 > > IANA doctor, but I believe the pressure problem is not wax inside the ear (i.e., the stuff you can try to dig out), but with a blockage in the Eustachian tube. You do a maneuver, I blow my nose while nose is pinched shut. My description does not need to be Googled to be understood. 😛 The second part was just a warning that I do stupid things to my ears so my recommendations should always be suspect. It was not about clearing ears for hearing loss. But … _( just knew that was coming didn’t you? )_ One time my paternal Grandmother was losing her hearing and insisted on going to a doctor ‘right now.’ Doc took one look, dug massive amounts of wax from her ears and she could hear just fine. Not the same reason for hearing loss but … Being deaf never really bothered me after a flight, but the pressure was irritating and was sometimes all the way up to painful. Now I could have the pilot go back up, fuel permitting since I was the pilot but on a bad day, there was just no fixing it. Making a tricky crosswind landing into a really small place with a blinding pain in my ear, only had to do that once thank Og, was quite the challenge to my concentration abilities. :eek: :mad: ☹ :smack: : ouch, ouch. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/11 "2014-08-03T22:27:04Z")
Try [Earplanes](http://www.cirrushealthcare.com/EarPlanes-Adult-P49.aspx) Helps my sister a little, and she is grown woman who flies a lot and _ **cries** _ every.single.time going up and down. She even grimaces driving through mountains, poor sis. She has dodgy tubes (medical term, I believe) and is quite deaf in one ear. I can’t clear my ears. One will go, and after that I can blow until my head explodes but the other won’t go. Always a different ear. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to dive. ☹ I don’t do the earplanes though, I just accept being deaf in one ear for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/12 "2014-08-03T22:29:05Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > My description does not need to be Googled to be understood. 😛 I didn’t have to google it. 😛 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/13 "2014-08-04T05:08:47Z")
But what about **kambuckta**? I think she / he needs to come back and tell us if Google was necessary so one of can say, " Pppffffftttt! to the other… We need to know… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/14 "2014-08-04T07:19:47Z")
Hah…I didn’t need to google either. Your description was just fine…and I’ve now got CRACKLING when I ‘blow with nostrils pinched’ and a restoration of most of my hearing. So either you would make a fine doctor, or the prednisolone has kicked in. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/15 "2014-08-04T07:37:50Z")
I’d just like to chime in that I can’t clear my ears, either. The Valsalva maneuver, yawning, swallowing … all those things are useless for me (well, if I get lucky, yawning helps sometimes, but not always, and it is hard to induce a genuine, ear-clearing yawn). Anyway, sorry about your ear problems, **kambuckta**. I hope the crackling is a good sign (as for me, sometimes I get squeaking sounds in similar situations). A while ago I posted in a different thread that I cannot burp. Is it possible these phenomena are related? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/16 "2014-08-04T08:49:11Z")
I can burp just fine. But I find it really _REALLY_ hard to cough up phlegm. Maybe a connection there too? 😉 Anyway, my worst ever flight was 28 yrs ago on a NETS plane (Neonatal Emergency Transport Service) with my newborn son. The pain on descent was fucking HORRIFIC, and I truly thought my eardrums were going to explode with bits of my brain splattering the walls of the tiny aircraft. Actually, that would have been the preferred option at the time. God-damn it was awful. Meh…he’s 28 now, 6’1" and still giving me grief. Bastard. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/17 "2014-08-04T11:43:35Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > Try [Earplanes](http://www.cirrushealthcare.com/EarPlanes-Adult-P49.aspx) > > Helps my sister a little, and she is grown woman who flies a lot and _ **cries** _ every.single.time going up and down. She even grimaces driving through mountains, poor sis. She has dodgy tubes (medical term, I believe) and is quite deaf in one ear. I was coming in to mention these. I’ve never had to use them, luckily, so don’t have personal experience with them. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/18 "2014-08-04T21:32:12Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Hah…I didn’t need to google either. Your description was just fine…and I’ve now got CRACKLING when I ‘blow with nostrils pinched’ and a restoration of most of my hearing. So either you would make a fine doctor, or the prednisolone has kicked in. > > Cheers! Ahh come on, that is just mean… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeroplane-ear-remedies/694624/19 "2014-08-04T21:53:23Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > I was coming in to mention these. I’ve never had to use them, luckily, so don’t have personal experience with them. I use them for every single flight I take. Well worth the 8 to 10 bucks for a set before a trip. It doesn’t completely alleviate the problem, but makes it more bearable.