Sewing Machine Man:
Yep you're right. The cabin pressure is usually between 6000 and 8000 ft. And yes people with colds suffer the same risks if they fly in those big jet RPT s. When I used to see general practice patients I used to regularly see patients with either painfully stretched or ruptured ear drums aquired on descent in RPT flights. Also the occasional sinus filled with blood.
I was flying on a 767 back to Oz from Hawaii a couple of years ago and the dreaded call comes "Is there a doctor on board?" I stayed put while a couple of other docs put up their hands. A few minutes later comes the call "Is there a Respiratory specialist or an anaesthesiologist on board?" SO I got sucked in to helping out. Turns out it was a woman with fairly bad chest complaint who was OK at sea level and gradually got worse till she couldn't cope and dropped her bundle at altitude. Blue lips, screaming pulse rate couldn't get her breath confusional etc. That's when I found out how crappy those on board medical kits are. Anyway got the pilot to fly lower so the cabin pressure got equivalent to about 5000 ft (they wouldn't go lower cos we would have run out of fuel before we got to dry land) gave her extra oxygen by mask and she coped till we got down. 3000 ft made a huge difference.
WhirlyGirl Sarah:
Two things about the Hay fever question.
If the nasal passages are blocked it doesn't matter what the cause is. The trauma to the ear drums and the potential for vertigo and vomiting is related to the physical obstruction and the subsequent pressure changes due to altitude.
But the good news is that hay fever (allergic Rhinitis) can usually be treated with antihistamines or whatever your favourite decongestant is. That then stops the problem for the duration of effect of the antihistamines - but beware the drowsying effect of some antihistamines. They may make it inadvisable to fly.
The other point is you need to be sure of the diagnosis. Not all runny noses are hay fever they can be the beginnings of a viral infection. But then again a lot of hay fever sufferers know when its the hay fever compared to a cold. They get pretty used to the subtle differences in feeling.
Of course the other thing is that if its hay fever you don't have to be concerned about those other rare things like heart, lung liver complications.