With the summer holiday season fast approaching, more and more of us will be jetting off to far flung destinations around the world. Whilst traveling by plane many of us will experience issues with our ears due to pressure. In rare cases these problems can lead to severe pain and hearing loss, so it is best to take precautions, before, during and after a flight.
As an Audiologist, I thought it would be good to explain what happens to our ears when we fly…
It really comes down to air pressure.
Normally the air pressure inside the inner ear and the air pressure outside are
essentially the same, or at least not different enough to cause any trouble.
Even if you were to hike to the top of a tall mountain, the slow speed of your
ascent would allow time for the pressure to equalise along the way. A problem
only occurs when the change in altitude is so rapid that the pressure inside
the inner ear and the air pressure outside don’t have time to equalise, as
occurs in air travel.
When your flight takes off, and begins
its ascent, the air pressure inside the inner ear quickly surpasses that of the
pressure outside. The eardrum swells outward. Picture a loaf of bread baking,
and you get the idea. Conversely if air pressure inside the inner ear rapidly
becomes less than the air pressure outside, the tympanic membrane (the eardrum)
will be sucked inward, almost like a vacuum effect. What has happened is that
the Eustachian tube (which links our ears with our throat) has flattened and
needs a bit of extra help from you in order to continue to do its job of
bringing air into the inner ear. Whether ascending or descending, that
stretching not only causes the eardrum not to vibrate (thus the muffled sounds)
but also causes the pain you feel.
Everyone who has flown in a plane has
felt the effects of a change in altitude on ears; a feeling of fullness and
popping is commonplace. You need to equalise the pressure by introducing as
much air as possible via the Eustachian tube and there are a number of ways to
do that.
The easiest way to equalise the
pressure is to swallow. When you swallow, that clicking or popping sound you
may hear is actually a tiny bubble of air that has moved from the back of the
nose into the middle ear, via the Eustachian tube. The Eustachian tube ensures
that the air in the middle ear is constantly being re-supplied. That air is
then absorbed into the membranes of the inner ear, and the cycle starts over
again. This constant cycle of air ensures that the air pressure on both sides
stays equal. When you fly, the trick is to ensure that the Eustachian tubes
work overtime and open more frequently to accommodate the change in air
pressure.
Chewing gum or sucking on a hard
boiled sweet will help; for infants, whose Eustachian tubes are much narrower
than an adult’s, the change in air pressure can be even more excruciating, so a
bottle or dummy is recommended to increase swallowing.
Other ways
of equalising the pressure include:
- Avoid sleeping during ascent or descent
- Drink lots of fluids in-flight to stay hydrated
- Yawn
- EarPlanes: Specially designed ear plugs that have a filter to equalise pressure
- Nasal spray: Take only when needed as overuse of nasal sprays can end up causing more congestion
Karen Finch is the Managing Director and lead audiologist at The Hearing Care Centre.
The multi-award winning, family-run company has 20 centres across Suffolk and Norfolk.
For more information visit www.hearingcarecentre.co.uk or call 01473 230330.
