http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnis ... sman_x.htm
6/7/2004
Flying can be a pain in the ear
The boy standing in the airplane lav with his mother wasn't happy. He was feeling sick and had a head cold, she told me. The most agonizing part, the boy complained, was the pain in his ears. And they still had to catch another flight once we landed.
About one-third of fliers feel ear pain or clogging due to changes in air pressure, according to Howard Francis, associate professor of otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins University. And this number increases substantially if passengers have seasonal allergies or fly with a cold.
Even though commercial airplanes are pressurized to minimize the effects of changing altitudes at 39,000 feet, the cabin may only replicate the atmosphere at 7,000 feet. So, your ears are still subject to changes in pressure, especially during takeoffs and landings.
While most healthy people eventually adjust to changes in air pressure, flying with a cold or allergies can exacerbate ear discomfort and be downright dangerous, according to Francis. Under normal circumstances, air flowing through the Eustachian tube inside the ear will keep the pressure on both sides of the eardrums equal.
But when you have a cold, swollen membranes in the ear can block the Eustachian tube, he explains. The eardrum can become stretched due to unequal pressure, creating a great amount of pain. In severe cases the middle ear can fill with fluid, resulting in an ear infection. Or the eardrum can even burst.
If you have wondered why Babi*s cry on takeoffs and landings, it is because their Eustachian tubes are often very narrow, restricting the amount of air flowing in the ear. If you've ever flown with blocked tubes, you can probably sympathize.
Clogged ears are difficult to clear. Some people say steam helps. A flight attendant once gave me a wad of hot, wet paper towels and a plastic cup to place over my ear. The intention was for the steam to seep from the cloth through the cup into my ear. It felt good, but it didn't unclog my ears.
Chewing gum doesn't work either, says Francis. But he does recommend this trick: Swallowing or yawning. It allows the muscles in the Eustachian tube to contract and open, equalizing the pressure. You can also try using a nasal decongestant spray several hours before the flight.
But the best method, according to Francis, is the "Valsalva maneuver." Just pinch your nose and close your mouth while forcibly exhaling through your nostrils. The popping noise you hear can help equalize the pressure inside your ear. Use the Valsalva maneuver periodically, he suggests, especially during ascent and descent.
I practice this technique religiously when I fly, but it doesn't always work for me – particularly when I have a bad cold. When I worked as an airline employee, I found that most of my colleagues used earplugs to avoid their clogged ears when they were sick. They recommended "EarPlanes," which are sold at many airports for about $6. Although any earplug that prevents air from getting in the ear will have the same effect, I think EarPlanes are easier to insert and remove.
Earplugs keep the pressure even in your ears by restricting the flow of air to the eardrum, which gives the inner ear more time to compensate for changes in pressure. Be sure you put them in before takeoff and do not remove them until the plane has landed.
Aside from pain, uneven pressure in your ears can lead to an infection that requires antibiotics and can take days to clear up. I know because it happened to me on a multi-stop trip: I had a cold when I flew from Denver to Chicago. Then I flew to New York the next day. And then I left for Lisbon the following day. With each flight, my cold got worse. By the time I reached New York, I had a raging ear infection, but I couldn't afford to postpone my trip to Portugal.
I consulted a local ear, nose and throat specialist. In lieu of antibiotics that could have taken days to heal the infection, the doctor performed a Myringotomy, a minor surgical procedure. He punctured my eardrum, drained the fluid and inserted a plastic tube.
The Myringotomy immediately equalized the pressure on both sides of the drum and relieved that "clogged" sensation. It wasn't pretty or painless, and I temporarily lost hearing. But I had instant relief after feeling miserable for many days, and I could fly without pain or discomfort.
You can bet I never want to go through that procedure again. From now on, I don't leave home without my earplugs.
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I though my eardrum was going to burst. Now I take decongestants practically before every flight, never want to feel that again...also tried the earplanes which seem to work.
A trip to ZB cures that though 
