Q: Sometimes my ears hurt during flights. Why does this happen, and what can I do about it?
When you fly thousands of feet above ground, the changes in cabin pressure can be downright unpleasant — causing potential issues like abdominal bloating, headaches and yes, earaches.
“Airplane ear” is an umbrella term for a variety of symptoms caused by rapid changes in altitude and air pressure, said Dr. David Gudis, an otolaryngologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. For some people, it’s no more than a clogged feeling that temporarily muffles hearing. For others, the condition may cause intense pain and even damage the ear drum.
“The good news is that it generally resolves on its own,” Dr. Gudis said. “It can just be very uncomfortable until it does.” This can take anywhere from seconds to days, he added.
Why does air travel hurt your ears?
In the space behind your eardrum, or the middle ear, is a structure called the Eustachian tube, which connects the middle ear to the back of the nose and throat. The Eustachian tube is responsible for keeping the air pressure between the middle ear and the environment the same.
Keeping air pressure balanced is “something we don’t normally have to think about,” said Dr. Esther X. Vivas, a professor of otolaryngology at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. We can usually do it by yawing or swallowing, which contracts muscles that open the Eustachian tube, experts said.
But when the air pressure changes quickly during a flight, it can be hard for the Eustachian tube to “keep up,” Dr. Gudis said. This can make us feel that we need to yawn or “pop our ears” to force the tube open so air can pass through, said Dr. Gregory Levitin, an otolaryngologist at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.