Ear Pain on Plane, Pop Ears OR use EarPlane

I have seen many flight travelers feeling discomfort in their ears during take off and landing. I myself have had this problem. Sometimes it gets so severe that the ears would bleed.

Remedy before going into actual reasoning:

a) Pop Ears - This is a cost-effective and natural remedy. This involves blowing air into the middle ear so as to get air in there to same pressure as outside. Do it this way:

1. Close your mouth and breathe in as much air as you can through your nostrils.
2. Now close your nose (using your thumb and middle finger) tightly, such that no air escapes through it.
3. Blow out the air through your ears. It might not work the first few times, but when it works, you will hear a pop sound in your ear. Trust me, it works.
   

Better to practise this before hand.

b)Use EarPlane - Buy this product, EarPlane, and use it. I did not try this, but it has good reviews on Amazon.com. Some friends asked me if I am endorsing this product or if I get any referral fee. No, I am not endorsing this product.

EarPlane Products Page
Ear Plane for adults

These are also available in smaller sizes for children.

Why it happens:

To understand the cause for this discomfort one has to know about at least the following 4 parts of a human ear. Ear Canal, Ear Drum (Tympanic Membrane), Middle Ear & Eustachian tubes. As shown below, the Eustachian tube connects the middle ear and the pharynx (to the throat). This tube helps in maintaining the air pressure in the middle ear, by occasionally letting pressurized air from the throat to the middle ear. This equalization of pressures doesn't happen automatically for everyone due to various reasons viz. inflammation of the ear, the ear itself, etc.

There are 2 pressures acting on an ear drum. The air pressure from the ear canal and the air pressure in the middle ear. As long as these are equal, there will be no stretching of the tympanic membrane and everything is normal. If any of these pressures changes relative to the other, the ear drum (or the membrane) is stretched causing pain.

Before the flight takes off, the air in the ear canal as well as in the middle ear is at regular atmospheric pressure. As the flight takes off and the altitude increases, the air pressure in the ear canal decreases along with the atmospheric pressure. The air pressure in the middle ear is still at high original atmospheric pressure, causing different pressures on both sides of the ear drum.


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