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4 Responses to “Do ear plugs really work to alleviate pain during a flight?”

1. yogamasterfo on May 27th, 2010 at 10:51 pm

   I am a frequent flyer, and ever since I have been little, my parents and flight attendants have told me two methods which i find work well:
   1) Chew gum with really big chews (if that makes sense) or bite down really hard continuously (and make your mouth really big
   2) Swallow continuously (yes, your ears will pop, but it does alleviate pain

   I hope these methods help…I’m not very sure about the earplugs, they (your ears) might pop because of the pressure…I’ve never heard about earplugs as a pain-reducer for flights

   Hope that helps!

2. Kimberly J on May 27th, 2010 at 11:08 pm

   I have the absolute best remedy for you.

   Hold your nose, and then try and blow out of it. It works instantly.

3. Eclipsepearl on May 27th, 2010 at 11:53 pm

   I was a Flight Attendant for 13 years and I never wore ear plugs. I worked for two companies and never saw a coworker with ear plugs in. I also only rarely saw it with passengers.

   If you have horrible ear pain, you need to see a doctor. Even if you have no symptoms on the ground, the pain indicates that there might be a problem. Don’t worry. Ear problems are usually easily fixed. Healty ears should be able to handle pressurization changes. By contrast, flying with an infection or blockage could damage your ears.

   Make an apt. instead of looking into gadgets which may or may not help. Ask the doctor what s/he thinks.

4. Techwing on May 28th, 2010 at 12:21 am

   Ear plugs cannot prevent the pressure changes that occur during flight, and so they cannot prevent problems.

   The pain comes from your eardrum, which is put under unequal pressure during a climb or descent in the aircraft. The air pressure in the cabin drops slightly as the airplane climbs, and rises again as the airplane descends, in much the same way as it changes when you drive up into the mountains or back down from the hills. This means that you end up with more pressure on one side of your eardrum than there is on the other side. This can hurt if the difference in pressure is large (if it’s small, usually your ears just feel like they are blocked, although they really aren’t).

   Air pressure is equalized by the eustachian tubes, small tubes that leave from the middle ear (on the inside of the eardrum) to your mouth. When a pressure difference develops on opposite sides of the ear, the eustachian tubes allow air to move in or out of the inside of your eardrum to equalize the pressure. However, if they don’t open easily, the pressure difference can build, causing pain and temporary hearing impairment.

   Chewing and swallowing are actions that tend to open the tubes. Blowing with your nose pinched shut can also force air into the tubes, but that works only when you are descending (don’t try it when climbing, it will only make things worse). Yawning can help to open the tubes as well.

   Earplugs are good for reducing noise, but since they can’t actually change the pressure on opposite sides of the eardrum, they usually don’t work for pressure issues. A perfectly airtight earplug can slow pressure equalization to compensate for closed eustachian tubes, but since the speed of equalization still wouldn’t likely be the same on both sides of the eardrum, it won’t eliminate the problem completely.