Crammed in an tube with hundreds of people in close quarters, you the have the same exposure if not worse than a child in school. The ugly fact is if you fly with clogged ears as a result of a cold or infection you risk damaging your ears. You may want to post on the medical forum.
My first scare (last scare as I learned my limits) on decent through about 10k feet I could not clear an ear. An hour and 3 beers later at the bar with a friend I heard a squeal and felt relief in said ear and promptly stated I LANDED!!! I was lucky as a perforated eardrum could have resulted.