chris,

Sorry I am a bit late replying. I see you live in the UK so any chemist will know what Mucron is. There are alternatives but it is the one I have used. It is a tablet and is very effective in clearing your tubes if you have post cold catarrh. If you have an allergy then you need something more specific to the allergy (e.g. Piriton).

I thought drug methods of clearing the tubes were frowned apon.

Many moons ago I was driving down the 300ft hill I lived up, on my way to a 2300 report for a night TFS.On the way down my ears blocked up but,being young(er) and keen(er) than I am now I thought I would give it a go. During the descent into Tenerife I was so distracted/incapacitated by the pain/deafness that I gave control to my colleague and did my best to perform P2 duties on his hand-signals.I was even more reluctant to go tech at 0500 in TFS than I had been at 2300 before leaving, so we got a patch on HF (after landing when I could HEAR AGAIN!)to a Doc. As we had no decongestants on board he suggested taking a couple of Asprin 30min before descent(which he reckoned would reduce the inflammation in the offending tissue) and descending the cabin as slowly as possible.Fortunately in the older 737's you could descend the cabin at a very low rate, as long as you gave yourself time by starting down early;It worked, but it was a much wiser & very relieved pilot that stepped off with ears intact;god forbid that we suffered a pressurisation problem,the other guy would have been very single crew.A lesson learned but I'm still sometimes caught out immediately before/after a head-cold,much less during.

It is interesting reading the last two posts. mad jock is typical of the attitude 'the book says or the regulations say'. Captplaystation on the other hand shows the dangers of not being prepared for such a situation.

You are risking your life and all the passengers on board by not being aware of what you need to clear your ears on the descent. Dizziness and other symptoms are common in such situations. A good decongestant may be 'frowned upon' by the authorities but it becomes the common sense option in Captplatstations case. Asprin just wont hack it in that situation!

I use "Earplanes", little blue plastic valves bought in any High St. chemist. Last time I bought them they were £3.99 and can be used a few times before replacing.


As somebody who use to be near to tears with the pain and deaf for 2 to 3 days, they work for me.

Never known Viagra to work in the descent.

All joking apart, decongestants may work in the short term, but they are well known for their "rebound" effect- making the problem worse on withdrawal of the drug.:cool:

On one occasion on the descent with a mild cold I have had one ear unblock before the other - this was accompanied by disconcerting vertigo which lasted for about 20 seconds. I remember thinking at the time that if I had been on an instrument approach or in the landing phase it could have been very nasty.

Anyone else had this experience?

No actually Flap 5 I am scuba diver who has played the will i chance it game.

When instructing I have wittnessed many a mask suddenly fill with blood and snot when the sinuses eventually blow. I will admit though there is a difference in having 4 bar sitting behined it trying to get out.

And i have also had a barotruma of a tooth. Which when coming up from 40meters managed to explode at 15meters. I can't tell you how uncomfatable it was having to decompress for 20 mins with a mouth piece in and cold sea water spraying on the raw nerve in the tooth.

Persoanlly i do have a decongestant in my bag. Boots decongestant to be honest because it is apart from being the cheapest about also doesn't have any of the other nastys in it which make you drowsy.

And I believe the reason why your not ment to use the drug methods is more to do with the raised bloody pressure problems when reacting with certain dugs or causing low blood pressure with others.

Which is why the AME's won't let you fly while using it. But saying that I would take it if they became blocked in the cruise its better than a burst ear drum.

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/h...100003928.html

This is the active bit of the drug you are recommending.

I always chew gum......an old retired airline pilot told me that when he flew DC-3's the stewardesses handed out gum to the passengers to alleviate ear pressure.....still works today:D

With the added benefit that you look really cool. . . .hmn?

Woof etc.

Yes. An asymmetric blockage is I suggest not that uncommon. Can be v nasty re vertigo as you suggest. Therefore the emphasis has to be on prevention before things gets to that stage.

Don't know if you are civil or mil but the situation in the 50/60s with unpressurised militay aircraft charging up and down from SL to 40k quite quickly meant you never delayed in clearing your ears when descending - if exagerated throat swallowing action did not do the business you pinched your nose and blew pretty hard there and then - long before any pain or other symptoms were experienced.

When pressurisation became the norm things were a little easier but the problem was still there lurking for the unwary.

If you are on your own you can always climb back up a bit to try and get the tubes open again that way.

If in a pressurised fast jet descending short of fuel you get a blockage (sinus or ears) then I used to blip the presusurisation off to get the cabin to climb for a moment while I got stuck in with nose pinched and blowing. If the sudden repressurisation became a problem then it had to go off again until I was down.

As ever lots of ways to skin a cat but you soon learn what suits you and/or gives you problems. A nasal spray is the answer for a bad sinus block but as has been said earlier can have a rebound later although these days the beneficial ffects can persist for several hours rather than 20 mins as with the spray in the old days.

Going right back to WWII the Luftwaffe pros on the Me163 used to pierce their ear drums and fit little grommets. End of problem. Of course that did nothing for hearing in old age or keeping bugs out of the inner ear. A matter of priorities I guess!

JF