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"Ouch, my ears hurt." It's a common complaint we hear from kids travelling by air. Usually infants and very young children are those who suffer from ear pain during air travel, but older kids and adults can experience it 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 causes a form of "ear barotrauma," a condition that causes ear discomfort due to pressure changes, says Dr. Matthew Messoline, a family medicine doctor with Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group. 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, says Messoline. This is why it is 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," he says.
Dr. Messoline suggests these five tips for easing ear pain:
Contact your doctor if you are concerned that your eardrum may have ruptured during flight.
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