Dodgy Ears and preventing a cold

[euromanxdude]

Hello All!
Did have a look to see if this topic has been discussed recently - but couldnt see any evidence ( forgive me if i am wrong!).

Last sunday evening had the misfortune on having to be offloaded halfway through my duty to a very painful right ear which, after using the old tricks of the trade would not budge.
Trundled off to A&E..when finally seen to..got told had badly damaged my right ear..evidence of bleeding/ redness etc.
Needless to say hearing that ( from the other workable ear) I forgot who i was and burst into tears:{ - thinking to myself thats my flying career over.

Was given some antibiotics etc and advised to see my GP later on this week. After visiting the GP this morning and both ears examined was told that the dodgy ear had healed..and looked to him 'back to normal' :ok: Now on scheduled days off followed by annual leave..and next back into work on the 4th feb!
No matter how hard i try to prevent catching a cold - i always seem to get one.
Whats your tricks of the trade in preventing catching a 'cabin crew cold'? Any tips would be gratefully received. :)

[grounded27]

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.

[Genghis the Engineer]

I'm reminded of five minutes after take-off in an Iberia flight from Madrid to Santiago, the young woman with her child sat next to her, in the adjacent seats to me - turning to me and saying "by the way, have you had chicken pox".

I ban even my office staff from coming into work with a cold, because of the effect on everybody else - particularly the fliers. But it's irresponsible attitudes like that woman's that cause international pandemics.

One obvious statement - the cold may not be preventable, but do get an annual flu jab.

G

[Agaricus bisporus]

If you suffer from sticky eardrums carry a Sinex spray. That is an almost guaranteed way to alleviate blocked ears if used in time.
But flying with a cold is plain daft.

[beachbumflyer]

As soon as I start feeling a sore throat I give myself a good dose of
Ilvico. Two pills three times a day for one or two days. It usually works and stops the cold, sometimes it doesn't. And I now never fly with a cold. Two or three times I almost had an eardrum rupture.

[gingernut]

I'm not sure if the evidence around cough and cold prevention is that robust. Washing your hands in alcohol gel between your 60th sore throat of the day seems like a good idea, but the reason I've not caught a cold yet this year probably has more to do with seasonal variations in the circulating strains, rarther than hand hygiene.

Sore,bunged up ears are probably a good reason not to fly, trouble is, where does one draw the line? In more virulent times, my ears have seemed to be bunged up all bloomin' winter.

[kotaru1004]

Wear warm clothing, covering ears. Taking care to not catch a cold
and when to travel, please consult the opinions of those who have flown