What to do if your ears get blocked on the plane
What to do if your ears get blocked on the plane
Anonim

Whether you're on a vacation or a business trip, getting your ears buried when altitude changes can cloud the journey. How to deal with this? Everyone knows about candy and chewing gum. If you want a more efficient way, here's our quick tip.

What to do if your ears get blocked on the plane
What to do if your ears get blocked on the plane

Flying can turn into torture: due to pressure drops during the climb or descent of the plane, the air in the inner ear can press too hard on the eardrum. Up to damage.

With normal sinuses, it is usually enough to swallow a couple of times or open your mouth.

But if the lumen of the Eustachian tubes is too narrow (due to an inflammatory process in the ear or due to physiological characteristics), then the ears can be blocked quite strongly.

In no case should you grit your teeth and endure the pain. This can rupture the eardrum!

You can be helped by:

  • vasoconstrictor agents for the nose, better sprays: xylometazoline, naphthyzine, nesopin, adrianol;
  • cold lollipops - swallowing movements + release of the sinuses;
  • special earplugs for flights (it is better to buy them in advance, since only the most common, ineffective ones are usually sold at airports).

But the most effective and safe remedy is one of the divers' exercises - the Toynbee maneuver:

  • shut your mouth;
  • pinch your nostrils with your fingers;
  • make a swallowing motion.

Unlike the more famous Valsalva maneuver (which involves exhaling into the nose instead of swallowing, which in itself can damage the inner ear), this method directly involves the muscles that open the Eustachian tubes. Repeat the exercise every few minutes during takeoff and landing when you feel pressure in your ears.

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