Can flying damage your hearing?

Noise From Planes Can Damage Your Hearing If you are on a particularly long flight or are a frequent traveler, your ears may be at risk. The good news is there are several easy ways to protect your hearing on flights: Put in earplugs. Use noise-canceling headphones.



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Signs and symptoms of Airplane air include discomfort, pain, and fullness in ear, and mild to moderate hearing loss in acute cases. Moreover, for severe cases, affected individuals may experience severe pain, moderate to severe hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, and hemotympanum (severe form).

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It's all due to pressure changes. As the plane starts to lose height, the pressure in the air around you changes. Until the pressure inside the tubes behind your eardrum adapts, the pressure inside and outside your ear is different.

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Mild symptoms of ear barotrauma usually last a few minutes. If they last longer, you may need treatment for an infection or another problem. Serious damage, such as a burst eardrum, may take a few months to heal. Sometimes you may need surgery to repair the eardrum or the opening into your middle ear.

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You'll probably find that the ear symptoms simply settle soon after landing. But sometimes, they can take 24 hours to settle. The important thing is to keep swallowing – this can eventually open up the Eustachian tube and equalise the pressure and therefore lessen your symptoms.

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Most of the time, the pressure should clear up a few hours after you're back on land, she says. If it lingers longer—into the following day, for example—you might have a buildup of fluid behind your ear that isn't ventilating properly. For that, you'll probably want to see a doctor.

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Signs and symptoms of Airplane air include discomfort, pain, and fullness in ear, and mild to moderate hearing loss in acute cases. Moreover, for severe cases, affected individuals may experience severe pain, moderate to severe hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, and hemotympanum (severe form).

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While there is no scientific proof that earplugs actually help with in-flight ear pain, anyone who feels like they are a benefit should continue to use them to relieve their pain. Some other effective methods of reducing pressure include swallowing, yawning, blowing your nose, and chewing gum.

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It's recommended to wear the earplugs the entire flight, up until the airplane has landed and the cabin has been depressurized. It's best to practice the various equalizing methods long before your departure date so as to learn which methods work best for you.

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Chewing. Chewing is another practice that helps pilots to relieve ear popping. Just like yawning or swallowing liquids, chewing also stretches areas around the ears, equalizing the pressure inside the ear.

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