Is it safe to fly with nasal congestion?

As a general rule, flying with a sinus infection and a congested nose is not advised. Changes in cabin air pressure affect the air inside and outside of your head. As a result, clogged sinuses, which prevent you from equalizing pressure differences, can be excruciatingly painful.



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During lift-off and landing, changes in the air pressure inside the plane's cabin, affects the air inside and outside of your head. If your sinuses are congested, this means an unbalanced amount of pressure, which can be a painful experience.

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If you have nasal congestion, use a nasal spray about 30 minutes to an hour before takeoff and landing. Avoid overuse, however, because nasal sprays taken over three to four days can increase congestion. Use decongestant pills cautiously.

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If you fly with a head cold or seasonal allergies, Dr. Pinkston said it's possible you may significantly stretch your eardrum because your Eustachian tubes wouldn't be working properly to equalize pressure. If the stretching of the eardrum is considerable, these problems may occur: Capillaries in the ear break.

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91.119 Minimum safe altitudes; general (b) Over congested areas – Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open-air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.

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Really, Hertzberg says, the risk of getting a respiratory infection from a plane is low. There are very few reports of infectious disease being transmitted on airplanes, she says.

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Airline carriers are also formidable carriers of the common cold; a recent study says you may be more than 100 times as likely to catch a cold on a plane as in your normal daily rounds, according to a study publishing in the Journal of Environmental Health Research: Common cold transmission in commercial aircraft: ...

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1. About one hour before expected descent, take a decongestant (such as Sudafed- 12hr). 2. About 30 minutes before the flight use a nasal spray (such as Afrin or Neo-Synephrine).

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If your ears feel full and blocked or you keep getting the sensation that they aren't able to pop properly, then flying is probably going to make this worse. It is especially important for children to avoid flying with an ear infection as they are at higher risk due to having narrower Eustachian tubes.

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What to do before you fly with cold symptoms
  1. Take decongestants. Medicines like Sudafed work to reduce swelling around your Eustachian tubes, giving the ear more of a shot at equalizing, says Linder. ...
  2. Try nasal sprays. Really stuffed up? ...
  3. Pack lozenges. Keep hard candy to suck on or gum to chew in your carry-on as well.


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