5 tips to help ease airplane ear pain

By The Health News Team | July 15, 2025

Man on airplane holding his ears in pain

"Ouch, my ears hurt."

It's a common complaint we hear from kids traveling by air. And it's often infants and very young children who suffer the most. However older kids and adults can experience ear pain in the skies, too.

The ear-popping sensation we feel when we fly is a common, normal part of airplane travel and is usually nothing more than an annoyance. Flying, says Dr. Matthew Messoline, a family medicine doctor with Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group, causes "ear barotrauma," a condition that causes ear discomfort due to pressure changes.

In each ear, the eustachian tube — a narrow passage that connects the middle ear to your throat and nose — helps regulate ear pressure. The ear pain felt is the difference in pressure between the airplane cabin and the pressure behind the eardrum, which has yet to equilibrate. It's painful during ascent and descent because there is a changing atmospheric pressure.

"Once you reach cruising altitude, you should be able to equilibrate and your ears should not hurt any longer," Dr. Messoline says.

He suggests these five tips for easing ear pain during air travel:

Yawn and swallow often.

Yawning and swallowing can help equilibrate the pressure behind your eardrum to minimize pain. Chewing gum or sucking on candy can help too. When our ears "pop," the eustachian tube is adjusting the air pressure in the middle ear.

Nurse during takeoff and landing.

Mothers should nurse their babies or feed them a bottle during takeoff and landing. In children, the eustachian tube is smaller, which is why regulating pressure may take longer or be more painful.

Take medication.

For adults, taking pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) 30 minutes prior to the flight to decrease obstruction around the eustachian tube can help minimize pain. Nasal spray can help too. Talk with your doctor before taking any medications for flying or if you have other health issues, such as high blood pressure.

Use ear plugs.

Commercially sold ear plugs designed to slow down pressure change when flying may help ease pain.

Avoid flying with a cold.

Flying with a cold will magnify the pain associated with changing pressure. If you must fly while under the weather, try pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) or nasal spray prior to your flight to minimize this risk.

"If you fly with a cold, it can make ear pain worse or last longer," says Dr. Messoline. "The main risk is eardrum rupture. But if it does occur, it will result in significant relief of pain since it will automatically equilibrate the pressure because the barrier has been ruptured."

Contact your doctor if you are concerned that your eardrum may have ruptured during a flight. While ruptured eardrums usually heal on their own, some may require treatment, such as antibiotics or even surgery.

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The Health News Team

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The Sharp Health News Team are content authors who write and produce stories about Sharp HealthCare and its hospitals, clinics, medical groups and health plan.