We are in holiday season and many of you will be jetting of somewhere sunny during the Summer . I enjoy the whole travel experience even the 4am taxi ride to the airport . Everything except the annoying in-flight ear pop .
The in-flight
ear pop
We are in holiday season and many of you will be jetting of somewhere sunny during the Summer . I enjoy the whole travel experience even the 4am taxi ride to the airport . Everything except the annoying in-flight ear pop .
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That moment when your ears feel funny and your face contorts as you try to get your ears to pop is caused by the unequal pressure between the outer and inner ears at altitude .
Just as water pressure increases the deeper you go ( as all divers will know ), air pressure increases the closer you get to sea level . In both cases , that ’ s because as you go deeper , you ’ ve got more and more air / water above pushing down on you .
We are able to handle the weight of the atmosphere at sea level and our ability to hear actually requires it . Sound waves are transmitted from the outer ear to the inner ear through the eardrum . This thin vibrating membrane acts as a barrier to liquids but allows atmospheric reverberations to pass through , however this requires that the air pressure on both sides of the eardrum are roughly equal .
Usually , equalizing the pressure between the outer and middle ear is easy . Your inner ear is equipped with a small channel that runs down to the side of your throat known as a Eustachian tube . This facilitates air escaping from the inner ear into the throat , allowing you to equalize the atmospheric pressure on either side of the eardrum . These tubes are attached to the muscles in your soft palate and are activated automatically whenever you yawn or swallow . That “ pop ” you hear is the sound of the pressure in your inner ear equalizing .
When jetting off and in a rapidly climbing airplane , the air pressure in the cabin will decrease while the pressure in the inner ear remains constant . This causes the eardrum to bulge outward and your auditory ability is reduced since the over-taught membrane doesn ’ t transmit sound as well , resulting in that plugged up feeling you get before the pop .
The Eustachian tube usually opens on its own whenever you swallow hard but if you have an infection the tubes might not open at all on account of your swollen throat . If the Eustachian tube doesn ’ t open then the lack of pressure equalization means a potentially uncomfortable flight .
Take a look around the cabin during a flight and you will see people attempting to rectify this swelling by holding their nose , closing their mouth , and blowing ; trying to forcing air from the lungs into the tubes and equalizing the pressure . This can cause additional problems as there the very real chance of blowing too hard and tearing the eardrum itself .
I read an article recently on a different way of getting your ears to pop which suggested that as you feel the pressure beginning to build do the following :
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Hold your nose , close your mouth
Turn your head to the right until your chin touches your shoulder
Swallow hard until your left ear pops
Turn your head to the left until your chin touches your shoulder
Swallow hard until your right ear pops
Continue doing this until you reach cruising altitude and start again as the plane begins its final approach for landing ...........................................................
Your ears should have popped and you are now free to enjoy the rest of your flight - at least until the kid in the row behind you starts kicking the back of your seat .
By Jason Edge