air travel and the ear drum

[mpw]

yesterday night i returned to mumbai by air and as the plane was descending i felt my eardrums pop a bit and as normal i yawn a bit to equalise the ear drum pressure.

The left ear was OK but the right eardrum did not come back to its normal position even on landing.

went to an ENT specialist today and i was shown that my ear drum almost ruptured.. almost..the doc said it could be because i tried too hard to adjust to the pressure differential when landing.

The doc is a good friend and one of the more reputed doctors in Mumbai and he showed me on the video what my right ear drum looks like now..

I was lucky.

good thing is -

a. ear drum didnt break - its good but there is some bleeding and pus formation which anti biotics will take care of.

went to doc first thing in the morn and that meant early detection and treatment - no chance for secondary pus related stuff.

b. need to be off swimming and air travel for a week atleast

c. Doc mentioned this is quite common amongst frequent travellers and airline crew

d. best part - i can continue to listen to music as normal but no headphones for a month atleast.

This post is for guys like me who travel a lot .. please do not try too hard to get the ears normal when landing - it will happen by itself.

For those hooked to music - the ears are too precious for any nightmare to happen.

good luck and stay healthy !

mpw

 

[apk]

Thanks for the tip. As someone who travels frequently by air because of my work, this is good advice.

 

[Hiten]

Mahesh,
good that nothing bad happened. Also try to avoid prolong headphone use. It affects hearing in the long run. Take care.
Regards.

 

[Saket]

Good on you to share it. Though, I am not as frequent of an air traveler as many other on the forum might be, but it is a great tip. Not only helps in air travel, but also in many other situations when ears pop out. It can happen even on a long car drive too.
Will take care not to force it correct. One common technique that people use to correct it is blow air from inside while keeping the mouth & nose closed. Looks like not the best of the things to do.