ear popping

[liquidhockey]

can anyone who has airline experience tell me if you get used to the ear popping with time on the flight deck?
also what can i do to avoid it when i go on holiday this year?
thanx a lot
Dave

[little red train]

Not an airline pilot, but do have ears also.

If I remeber correctly from HP&L, Its a little tube betweem the throat and the inside of your ear (behind the eardrum) outside pressure is excerted on the outer side of the eardrum. the pop is the sound of the air "glugging" through a slightly blocked tube to the thoat (Also at outside air Pressure).

Remedies are to keep the tube opening.

Chewing gum, or a simple yawning motion exercises the tube, allowing the pressure to equalise.

My fav, is to hold your nose and try and blow though it, with your mouth closed, should hear the hiss of the air getting pushed thought the tubes. works every time.

Colds or any congestion can make the tubes gummy, and hard to unblock, causing pain or anoing ticking sounds as the air slowly passes.

[This message has been edited by little red train (edited 16 April 2001).]

[Speed Racer]

That's why they give you the lil hard boiled lollies on the plane! .. or they used to anyway, cant say i've seen that much of them lately. They were designed to get the pax to suck on them, hence opening that lil tube, and equalising the pressure, assisting them with *popping* their ears.
:)

SPEED!

[AffirmBrest]

You won't ever get 'used' to it, since as the previous posters have described, it is necessary to equalise air pressure either side of your eardrums as the cabin pressure changes with Climb & Descent.

Free advice: Never never ever fly with a cold, or if you cannot clear your ears - I know several crew, all within a relativly small company who have been permanently invalided from flying duties due to damaged eardrums from doing so. Even if you only have bit of a cold, what happens in an uncontained decompression? Rather than a serious but survivable incident, you lose you licence, career and hobby.

Fly safe y'all :)

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...proceeding below Decision Height with CAUTION...

[village flyer]

FYI,
the tube connecting the ear to the throat is known as the eustation (err spelling a little wrong)tube, ever wonder how people can exhale smoke thru their ears that the reason.
The proceedure to remove the sensation of blocked ears is known as the valsalva proceedure (I'm sure someone will correct the spelling) or if you fly with BMI its caled doing a Des Lynham.....
VF