Blocked Ears and Leave of Absence for Colds
Looking at moving into the jet world from Cessna's and I'm scared of one thing.
Often, but not always, if I fly as a passenger on a jet, I'll get an ear blocked up on descent --even if I don't have a cold.
I know the various techniques to clear the ear. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
When they don't work, my head feels like I'm in a fishbowl, and I'm afraid this could seriously adversely affect my performance for obvious reasons if my head is clogged up.
So I'm wondering if anyone has any advice and if there's anything I can do in advance to help ensure my ears stay clear.
I assume that if you fly long enough that your ear tubes will eventually stretch out and get used to it, much like a diver's?
Also, I usually get 2 or 3 colds a year. They can last a long time, like 2 weeks each time.
How do you deal with this? You can't safely fly but at the same you might only get 8 sick days a year.
So what do you do?
Are airlines generally okay if you take an unpaid leave of absence while you recover from a long cold?
Or will they fire me? Not much you can do about long colds.