ears and flying

[littlemissmel]

I flew recently(and I am flying again this weekend) and upon descent, my right ear blocked up. I tried everything to unblock it....but it stayed blocked and i started to feel quite ill. Once landed my ear was unblocked but I still felt a bit ill.
I went to the chemist the next day and told them about my situation and I was given some cold and flu tablets (she said they would clear all my passages and my ears would not block again)

I'm just wondering if there's anything else I can do to avoid this happening next time. I've flown many times and I've never had a problem before. A freind who flew and had extreme head pains takes a sinus tablet before flying.

Does anyone have any ideas/hints? It really would be appreciated. :)
thanks

[Jinkster]

littlemissmel,

Can i suggest a bag of boiled sweets to pardon the pun "suck" on during take off and landing.

Best of luck, any other problem i would see an aviation doctor,

jinkster ;)

[Ranjha83]

I had the same problem when I went to perth, um... I kept chewing gum take off and landing that was very helpful :E

[ShesGreatintheGalley]

I used to get ear problems quite a bit when i started flying, now i have learned to judge how bad it is.
If its present before work (ie: you cant unblock your ears with the Valsave technique whilst on the ground) NEVER fly, take an URTI.
Never fly with a cold/Flu/Sinus or any other kind of affliction that has anything to do with your ENT as it will cause congestion and blocked tubes too.

If for some reason you are fine on the ground but only notice it on descent continue every two minutes to unblock your ears (once they remain blocked for more than three or four minutes you risk reaching the point of no return where they stay blocked and nothing you do will help)
Anything that dries up your nasal/sinus passages will also help as it will keep your ear passages open a little wider than normal.
(ie cold and flu tabs, nasal spray etc)

As the public dont fly daily, to them its just somehting that happens 'sometimes' but to us you begin to realise that its the start of something more serious and when you fly daily it becomes a bit of a problem.
Some people find swallowing continuously helps (hence the sucking on sweets) but if it gets bad, Yawning is much more effective. With practice you can even learn to open your ears up the same way as you would if you yawned, but without opening your mouth.
Never fly with blocked ears though, you risk PERMANENT damage.

[timmcat]

Without getting too graphical, I suffered with a blocked ear whilst on holiday a year or two ago (after swimming). Was worried about the consequences when flying home, so visited a Spanish pharmacy. Gave me some drops and after a couple of days it was as clear as ever (possibly too much wax (sorry!).:yuk:

[littlemissmel]

thanks guys:ok: