PPRuNe Forums - Blocked Ears and Leave of Absence for Colds

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Blocked Ears and Leave of Absence for Colds

Looking at moving into the jet world from Cessna's and I'm scared of one thing.

Often, but not always, if I fly as a passenger on a jet, I'll get an ear blocked up on descent --even if I don't have a cold.

I know the various techniques to clear the ear. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

When they don't work, my head feels like I'm in a fishbowl, and I'm afraid this could seriously adversely affect my performance for obvious reasons if my head is clogged up.

So I'm wondering if anyone has any advice and if there's anything I can do in advance to help ensure my ears stay clear.

I assume that if you fly long enough that your ear tubes will eventually stretch out and get used to it, much like a diver's?

Also, I usually get 2 or 3 colds a year. They can last a long time, like 2 weeks each time.

How do you deal with this? You can't safely fly but at the same you might only get 8 sick days a year.

So what do you do?

Are airlines generally okay if you take an unpaid leave of absence while you recover from a long cold?

Or will they fire me? Not much you can do about long colds.

I’m no medical expert but I think 2-3 colds per year is not excessive. You can be lucky and it just so happens your cold falls on your days off/leave.

I was had a summer cold which I recovered from pretty quick except I couldn’t clear pressure from my ears even on the ground. Strangely running seemed to help. My neighbours who work in office style jobs must have thought I was pulling a fast one as I said I was sick then went for a morning run.

I can only talk about the UK but if your on a permanent contract you should get paid lsickness and shouldn’t need unpaid leave to recover from an illness. I’m so far lucky that my pilot manager takes a practical view over blocked ears/colds etc. I think as long as you don’t take the mick like having a sick day every time your favourite football team play you should be okay depending on your employer/manager.

Usually when you are actively flying yourself you don’t notice the pressure unless you are having the start of a cold. Do you have any issues when GA flying when you are in good fitness?