Headache during landing

[ikezu87]

I have read about this problem in few articles and it seems to be quite common thing among young men, but also other people. Sometimes during landing I get horrible pain in my forehead, usually above the right eye and it might radiate in whole right side until the neck. Pain is very severe and it usually stops after landing.

There have been some discussion about reasons for this headache and generally the main call was sinuses and pressurisation problems. Last two trips were to Arlanda - Stockholm and I got pain on both times, but when I went back home to Helsinki there was no porblem at all. I have flown many times and I remember only one similar case before these two when I went to Rome 8 years ago. Then I felt huge pain as now.

I just want to ask among flying pilots if you are familiar with this case and if there is any treatment for it.

[numpty64]

I had a similar problem 6 months ago.

Diagnosis was bari sinusitis (I thing that's right)

A course of anti-biotic cleared it up but it will take at least 10 days off flying to get it completely settled down.

I have not had a repetition since.

Hope this helps

[obgraham]

Ikezu:

If you simply google "sinuses", you'll see a picture showing where your paranasal sinuses are located. Odds are your pain is over one or more of those spots. Each sinus has a small opening into your nasal passages to allow air to pass in and out. Block that opening, and the pressure can no longer equalize into the sinus, i.e. pain results when you ascend or descend rapidly.

A decongestant, either as a pill or as a nasal spray, can be very helpful if this is a recurrent problem for you. (Don't overdo it on the spray.)

Graham

[ikezu87]

By looking those pics, seems you are right Graham. Im just wondering why it happens only in certain occasions and how can I predict it or fix it for ever and not to worry anymore.

Need to find out. Studyin for pilot now and certainly don't want to deal with this issue later.

[alfaaloop]

I had the same symptoms as you describe and was half way through my flight training at the time.
It always happened at the later stages of descent(in pressurised aircraft) and even happened once on the way back down a mountain in a cable car.
After quite a lengthy investigation process it turned out that my sinus had narrowed over time. A day procedure at the local hospital to widen it has seemed to have done the trick.
Try all other remedies first but sounds like a sinus issue.

[ikezu87]

Oh, great to hear some real experiense about this. I'm pretty sure that if I will ever have this problem in future I will definitely rely on your method and examine my sinuses in first place. Seems that it occure in rapid descent like Graham said, because it happens only occasionally and very seldom.

Big thanks! :ok:

- Igor

[OFSO]

Excuse me posting experience of my wife as passenger, but she used to get this plus pain in ears every time she landed at PPG Perpignan but never when landing at GRN Girona. Always with 737NG.

Suspect the reason is the aproach to PPG is relatively steep descent after crossing mountains whereas aproach to GRN is long gradual descent.

Therefore likely suspect is rate of change of cabin pressure affecting sinus.

[ikezu87]

Thank you for sharing OFSO. This information will reinforce the case of insufficien pressure equilibration within sinuses during fast descent due to possible blockage.

Have your wife done anything for treatment?

[OFSO]

Have your wife done anything for treatment?

Not necessary as we've switched to using the TGV train (!) - it is almost as fast between Perpignan and London, first class isn't much more expensive than a LOCO flight, when baggage and extra charges are taken into account.

Incidently the TGV double-decker train (Reseau) is pressurized and neither of us has experienced any sinus reaction/problems entering tunnels or passing another train at cruise (300k plus per train).

[7120]

Sinus barotrauma has been recognised for some time. Extract from a recent review article in Current Neurology.......:

The rapid change of atmospheric pressure as a possible
cause of head pain was first described in 1783 when Jacques
Charles, a French engineer who, along with the Robert
brothers, built a hydrogen balloon, complained of a very
severe pain during a demonstrative ascent that forced him to
make a rapid landing; after that, he never flew again [1].
More than a century later, in December 1903, the Wright
brothers performed the first flight in their self-developed
flying machine, and the era of modern flight began. Since
that time, several people have reported their direct experiences
of excruciating pain related to flight. Among them,
Amelia Earhart (1897–1937), a pioneer among American
aviators, suffered from recurrent sinusitis episodes that significantly
affected her flying activities in later life [2]. Attention
was paid to this particular condition during the
Second World War, when fighter pilots, subjected to rapid
altitude changes, were exposed to an increased risk of sinus
barotrauma [3]. In an autobiography, the Japanese Zero
fighter pilot Saburo Sakai described his own experience that
occurred in 1940, when he was forced to suspend the descent
for the landing approach owing to the sudden onset of
a very severe pain in half of his head [4]. Another pilot,
Lieutenant Moore, a member of the crew in the first mission
to Saarbrucken, had his flying status removed because of his
“chronic sinusitis” problems: however, the X-ray evaluation
described by the flight surgeon was normal [5].