Flying, ear pain

[Guest guest]

A flight attendant had me try this many years ago and it helps. Take a paper napkin, and dunk it in hot water, but do not let it be dripping wet. Put it in the bottom of a paper or Styrofoam cup and hold the cup over the affected ear while it is painful. The moist air will let the ear drum flex.

What I do now, is to put a small ball of tissue that is moistened with warm water in my ear canal even before I get on the plane (especially if going from high altitude to lower altitude) and moisten it several times during the flight to accomplish the same thing. (plus not look so weird) Also, drink lots of liquid, mostly coffee or tea for the warmth, but also water. A small amount of wine is good to calm the expectation of a painful flight. Of course, chew gum a lot or suck on hard candy or menthol cough drop. I also have found that listening to my favorite rock tunes played loud (not too loud to damage what hearing I have left) will take my mind off the plane ride and distract me from the pain also.

My best flights were while I had a cholesteatoma or after the first surgery when there was still a small hole in the transplanted eardrum. I have not been on a plane since the hole was repaired, so don't know if it will be quite as painful as it was when I had an intact ear drum.

I have researched what to do about a non functioning ear drum and found that advice given to divers about popping ear drums was helpful. My ENT told me to hold my nose and try to force air (not too forcefully, though) into my inner ear through the Eustachian tube several times a day to keep the eardrum from being sucked in by negative pressure. So I have been doing that since surgery last June. Osteopaths know about massaging the area of the throat behind the tonsils to supposedly break adhesions that have formed over the years of having ear infections. (this might let the muscle that controls opening the ET to work) I have not found anyone locally who knows about this. I have also heard of surgery to try to enlarge the opening of the ET, but it seems it is not successful and could make things worse. I think keeping air in the middle ear is the best solution. I use decongestants and

antihistamines as a last resort since I have heard that they can make it worse if used all the time.

Homeopathic remedies for thick mucous "kali bicromicum" is what I use to try to keep the ET from being blocked. As a result of many years of ear infections, I too have lost all the hearing bones in one ear and now have the titanium transplant. I have about 50% of my hearing left in that ear and I will probably get a hearing aid for it but I don't know what kind yet.

I hope this information might help someone and relieve their pain. Good luck everybody. Susie