There are several effective methods to reducing or eliminating airplane ear, either before or after pain starts. Take an antihistamine, oral decongestant, or nasal decongestant spray about 30 to 45 minutes before the flight.
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If you are suffering from a cold or allergies at the time of air travel, you may want to consider antihistamines or decongestants to help you avoid ear pair during your travels.
Self-care steps — such as yawning, swallowing or chewing gum — usually can counter the differences in air pressure and improve airplane ear symptoms. However, for a severe case of airplane ear, you might need to see a doctor.
To ease discomfort, you can take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve), or an analgesic pain reliever, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others).
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.
Yawning or swallowing while chewing gum during takeoff and descent can usually unblock your ears, says Thomas Borski, MD, a board-certified ENT specialist at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic. If that doesn't work, pinch your nostrils shut, take a mouthful of air and gently exhale into your nose while keeping your mouth closed.
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.
Two common recommendations: 12-hour or 24-hour Sudafed or Afrin nasal spray. If you opt for the nasal spray, give yourself a spray 30 minutes before takeoff and again about 30 minutes prior to descent.
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.
Those pressure changes may happen if you're flying in an airplane, riding an elevator, diving to the bottom of a pool or scuba diving. In general, ear barotrauma is a temporary issue that goes away with self-care or when air and/or water pressure changes stop.
Sudafed 30 milligrams one hour before the plane lands If flying and diving is a chronic problem, start a nasal steroid (Flonase, Nasonex, Nasacort) for 2 weeks prior to your trip/dive. Pop your ears early and often. For flying, try to pop your ears as the plane descends.