Barotrauma of the Middle and Inner Ear

[Tim Langham]

Hi all,
       I am male, 35 yrs old & have had a long history of ear problems. When I was 15 an ENT specialist rebuilt my right ear & I am have been completely deaf in it ever since. My problem today is about pressure variations which I have always had. Driving down mountains is agony, putting my head 30cm under water hurts & the last time I flew on an international flight (last year)my ear drum perforated. I know this for a fact because as we were descending. I took four panadole, put in my equalising ear plugs, sniffed up my antihistime spray, chewed my chewing gum, yawned as much as I could. But the agony built up till I was sweating all over & praying for the plane to crash to put me out of my misery. 500m of the ground my ear drum perforated, heard the hiss of air go through, instantly low pain though abit dizzy. I flew a couple of days later & to my surprise for the first time in my life not any pain at all. I guess the perfoation hadn't healed properly yet thank goodness. Though two weeks later it had & went through agony again on the way home. Through bad organisation I have just booked an international flight in about 6 weeks July 19. I swore last time I would never put up with that pain ever again I thought perhaps with better planning I could go to an ENT specialist & maybe have a gromet put in. But 6 week time frame is very unlikely for me to get referred to an ENT etc. I am absolutely desperate. Piercing my ear drum myself I imagine would be alot less painfull than bursting through pressure. Or get rolling drunk on the flight might help but neither really appeals to me.
Pls Help
Tim

[Carrieb]

I also had this problem on my first ever flight - I was around 8 years old, and nobody believed me even though I was screaming and begging for help, they just kept passing me sweets and telling me not to be so dramatic!  Ever since then (20 years on) I also have problems with putting my head under water, my ears are torture in cold weather, etc, so I can sympathise.

What I find really does work every time - even though it takes a lot longer it seems for people with this problem - is to take a deep breath, pinch your nostrils, close your mouth, and attempt to force/squeeze the air through your nose (but dont allow this to happen). Try this very gently now, just so you can feel what I mean - the you will feel gentle pressure inside your ears. If you are flying and you keep doing this, you will feel a 'release' all of a sudden, and relief. Keep doing it whenever you feel the pressure build up.

Most people can do this once or twice and have relief, but you may have to do it 'hard' quite a number of times. Don't give up, it WILL work if you keep doing it. It will do no harm to you.

Caroline

[Sally Elaine]

Hi,  I know exactly how you feel i dread flying the pain is almost unbearable.  But as i like to travel i do put up with it althrough i feel like screaming when we start to desend, its a relife when my ear drum finally bursts.

I have found something that helps a little bit, maybe you could give it a go.  If you get some Karvol capsuals and ask the flight attendent to put them in a cup with hot water then beathe this in it clears the airways and seems to help a little, this needs to be done as soon as the flight stats to desend if not it wont work,  its just hard sometimes getting them to do it for you in time but it doesnt work in cold water.

The other thing ive notiiced is if you dont leave it to long between flights its not so bad.

Good luck on your next flight feel for you.

Best wishes Sally