Whats a good decongestant for airplane ear?

[hydra504]

I have a question and maybe someone can help me. I am looking for a good decongestant that help open up the Eustachian tubes during flight. Problem is that during decent my ears kill me with so much pain and I need a really good decongestant that I can take with me.

I will be flying to Singapore for my job maybe this week, in the mean time I just started Claritin-D at the moment but I think it's not helping since I been taking it for so long in the past and I think my body has probably gotten used to it. I have tried using 4 Way nasal spray right before decent and that doesn't seem to help much.  

Also with these ear clogging during flights and pains during decent I have gotten at least 3 ear infections in mainly my left ear, which is the one that gives me the most problems during decent, not too much my right.

What is a strong decongestant I can take that works?

[bsmsl]

I have had constant ringing in my ears since my flight a year ago.  That didn't even factor into my decision at all.  The tubes won't help ringing.  I was waking up in pain just about every night crying my ears hurt so bad.  My tempanogram was slightly off to one side, but not enough to make a clear and easy decision.  My ENT didn't really want to do tubes because most adults don't like them and he removes them (about 50-50).  He compromised on me and decided to go ahead and try one ear.  I felt so much better, that I wanted the second one done.  I think my allergy season changed by that point and I didn't really need the second one.  I would have it done again if I was having the same problems.

I alos have a friend who always has tubes in her ears.  She automatically has them replaced when the fall out.  She absolutely loves having them in.

I just thought a success story might be helpful.

[hydra504]

Yeah my ENT recomended to get tubes, but I am scared to get them because I have heard nothing but horror stories about them and people getting constant ringing in their ears (which I already have at this point).

But my problem was not being able to properly equalize the pressure in my ear by blowing and pinching, now I can do it with my right ear easily but it takes a little more effort with my left, which kinda scares me doing it to hard it might damage my ear drum and leave me with a more permanent ringing which I already have.  

On one flight to the UK I took Claritin-D and it help me, stayed in the UK for about 3 months then on the way back home I did the exact same thing, I took Claritin-D and the last flight that connected back home was the killer, I still had pain on my left ear and ended up with another ear infection. But which was weird though cause the flight to the UK I had no problems, just that one flight back home that was an hour long killed it.

I wanted to try Sudafed the one behind the counter and Afrin like you said for this flight and see what happens.  I also tried the EarPlanes plugs and those don't help too much I find to ease the pressure.  

[bsmsl]

My ENT and allergist recommend using Afrin 20 minutes before take off.  Since your flight is really long, you might want to use it about 1 hour before landing instead.  You could also try Psuedofed about 1 -2 hours before landing (give it time to get into your sytem and really work.

I would also recommend a different antihistamine.  Claritin is not very effective.  My allergist calls it a water pill.  Zyrtec is much more effective.

I hope those ideas are helpful.  I know how painful it can be.  I took a flight over a year ago and had severe pain during landing.  My ENT thinks it caused some kind of damage that he can't pin point as my ears still ring constantly.  Tubes have helped with the pain I was experiencing 6 months after the flight.  If you fly often, you might want to consider tubes.  Just a thought there.

Take care and have a safe trip.