Clogged Ear

troopernflight

troopernflight

Well-Known Member
Dr. Forred,
I made the mistake of taking a trip yesterday with my sinuses being clogged. Descending through the mid 20's I had terrible pain in my left ear and then it completely clogged to the point that I was literally deaf in that ear. I had pain the whole evening and still couldn't hear anything out of it. I took some pseudoephedrine and when I laid down it opened up a little. But I still can't hear very well in that ear and still have some pressure. Is this likely to resolve itself or is it probable that a trip to an ear doctor is in order?
Thanks.
 
I'd say you'll be fine in a few days. What you don't want to have is intense pain and pressure that all the sudden goes away. That could be a burst ear drum, and it will hurt, but not as bad as the ear block. One thing you can do now to relieve the pain is drive up into the mountains (if there are any around). If your ear is at 5000 feet and you're at sea level, it's gonna hurt like hell. Drive up to 5000 feet, and your ear is happy. Problem is, you gotta stay up there until your ear block gets fixed (and you need mountains, a road, and a car).

The other problem is how do you know when you're all better? I've had seemingly minor colds that gave me a block and sometimes not. One time I had a pretty bad block and called in sick for a few days. Got better and thought I'd be fine to go to fly. Decided to test the theory by taking the Palm Springs tram up to 8000 feet and see what happens. Got a block on the way down so knew it wasn't time to go back to work.
 
Thanks, sounds like a bottle of Afrin is a new item to add to my travel bag. It's a little better today, but still clogged up. Hopefully it will clear up by tomorrow.
 
Mucinex DM is also awesome stuff. It works in places where Afrin can't get. I carry some in my kitbag.
 
Good information! I had that happen once too, but fortunately I didn’t have to fly for several days.

I occasionally enjoy a good sinus infection, so I always keep a couple of Sudafed and a decongestant nasal spray in my bag somewhere.
 
I had the same thing happen about a month ago, only the second time in my career. Didn't have any trouble clearing ears or congestion for that matter prior to the flight. Was just fine making rapid climbs and descents from the teens into the 30's and back again. Then when I started descending through about 7k or so prior to landing, it started in my left ear, and got worse and worse, to the point where at about 3000 ft, I didn't know if I was going to be able to keep flying (bad thing in a single seat aircraft) due to the pain and how distracting it was. Wanted to beat myself for not having affrin (never flew with it before that). Long story short, I survived and didn't do any permanent damage, but I couldn't hear or clear that ear for about a day, and had to ground myself for the rest of the week. It went away completely on its own, but it was painful during, and for a few hours afterwards. I think you will be fine, but it's a good lesson for both of us and anyone else out there that it pays to have the bottle with you if you need it!
 
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