Health Tips before flying
and Try NOT to fly with a cold/flu/ear infection, if you can.
and If its un avoidable, see an ENT doctor before travel, get his opinion.
and Avoid sleeping when the plane takes off or lands. Sit up while flying on an airplane, rather than lying down.
and Swallow, yawn, move your jaw sideways, chew gum, and sip fluids while flying on an airplane. Do these actions 3 to 4 times as the plane takes off, and repeat them as it lands. Putting some cotton wool in the ear won\’t do any good.
and Try the Valsalva’s maneuver to clear your ears as the airplane is landing if jaw movements have not worked.(Pinch your nose and close your mouth. Gently push air out as if you are blowing your nose).
and If you have cold take a decongestant tablet the night before and the day you travel.
and Use Decongestant nasal spray (NOT drops) like Oxy or Xylometazoline.
and Take some pain killers with you in your hand bag.
and If there is severe ear ache, hearing loss, dizziness,nose bleed or headache , see the ENT doctor as soon as you land.
and If small children, careful in feeding them while on the plane ,feed them in upright position only.
What is Barotrauma
Normally the air pressure in your middle ear is the same as the air pressure outside your body. Your Eustachian tube (which connects your middle ear to the back of your nose) helps to keep it this way).
When you swallow or yawn, the tube, which is normally closed, opens briefly. This lets a tiny bubble of air flow up the tube and into your middle ear.
