Airplane Ears:
Signs and Symptoms:
1. Feeling of fullness in the ears.
2. Ringing in the ears.
3. Dizziness.
4. Moderate to acute pain or discomfort inside the ears.
5. Possibly some temporary hearing loss.
What to do now:
1. Simply swallowing can help. This makes the muscle active that opens the tube leading to the middle ear. Try this just before and during the plane’s descent; chew gum or suck on candy so you’ll swallow more often. Yawning works the same way. Avoid sleeping during descent.
2. If swallowing and yawning don’t work, try this more active way to unplug your ears:
3. Take a deep breath through your mouth; then hold your nose and try to breathe out gently while keeping your mouth closed. This can help force air through the tubes between your nose and ears. You may have to do this several times during descent.
If you’re flying with an infant:
1. Give your baby something to drink during landing. Babies can’t “Pop” their ears on purpose, but sucking on a bottle may do the trick.
2. Wake your infant prior to descent.
When to call a doctor:
1. If your ears don’t clear, or if pain persists for several hours after flying.
2. If you’re planning a plane trip and have recently had ear surgery. Consult with your doctor on how soon you may fly safely.
How to prevent it:
1. If you have a allergy attack, cold, or sinus infection, it’s best to postpone a plane trip.
2. If you can’t:
Some air travelers find relief by using a decongestant pill or nasal spray about an hour before landing.
People with allergies should take their medication about an hour before landing-but if it’s prescription medicine, follow yourdoctor’s directions.
Ear Infections:
Signs and Symptoms:
In adults:
1. Earache - either a dull, continuous pain or a sharp, sudden pain.
2. Muffled hearing.
3. Sometimes accompanied by:
Fever of 100 degrees or above, possibly with chills.
4. Full feeling in the ear.
5. Discharge of pus or blood form ear.
6. Sore throat.
7. Stuffy nose.
8. Nausea or diarrhea.
In young children, especially those who aren’t yet talking, watch for:
1. Tugging at the ear.
2. Restlessness.
3. Lack of appetite.
4. Irritability.
5. Fever of 100 digress or above.
6. Discharge from the nose or ear.
What to do now:
1. Gargle with salt water to soothe a sore throat and help open up blocked ears.
2. Hold a warm compress to your ear.
3. Inhaling steam may also help.
4. Use pillows to raise your head when lying down. This helps drain your middle ear.
5. Some people use decongestant nasal sprays to help unblock the ears. But after a couple of days, sprays can lead to “rebound” congestion, worsening your condition.
6. The drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen may provide some relief. (Never give aspirin to a child under 12 who has chicken pox, flu, or any other illness you suspect of being caused by a virus, such as a bad respiratory infection).
When to call a doctor:
1. If you or your child have an earache that lasts more than two days.
2. If your child has symptoms of an ear infection of difficulty hearing.
3. If your or your child’s body temperature rises above 100 degrees.
4. If you or your child frequently development ear infections.
How to prevent it:
1. Remove irritants and allergy-causing agents from your home, including dust, cleaning fluids, and tobacco smoke.
2. If you or your child are susceptible to food allergies, cut back on wheat products, corn products, or specific foods that may cause allergic reactions.
3. Pay close attention to your baby’s health, particularly if you are not breast-feeding. Bottle-fed babies are more likely to get ear.
4. infections. Hold your baby upright during bottle-feeding to prevent milk from irritating the tube that connects the back of the nose and the ear.
Swimmer’s Ear:
Signs and Symptoms:
1. Pain and tenderness in the ear, especially when moving your head or gently pulling on your earlobe.
2. Itchy or blocked feeling in the ear.
3. Watery, foul-smelling, or yellowish discharge from the ear.
4. Patches of broken, flaky skin surrounding the opening of the ear.
5.Temporary hearing loss or muffled hearing.
What to do now:
Swimmer’s ear often clears up on its own. If not, it responds quickly to treatment and usually disappears within a few days. Here’s what you can do to speed recovery:
1. Keep the infected ear dry. Protect your ears when showering or washing your hair. Avoid swimming.
2. Use over-the-counter antiseptic eardrops. Leave the drops in your ear for a couple of minutes, then tilt your head to let them drain out.
3. Hold a warm compress over the ear to relieve pain. Over-the-counter drugs such as aspirin or acetaminophen may help, too. (Never give aspirin to a child under 12 who has chicken pox, flu, any other illness you suspect of being caused by a virus, such as a bad respiratory infection).
When to call a doctor:
1. If symptoms persist after more than four or five days of self-care. It’s rare, but the infection can spread.
2. If you have symptoms and your eardrum has ever ruptured or otherwise been injured, or if you’ve had surgery.
3. If you have frequent bouts of swimmer’s ear or already have an ear infection.
4. If you have diabetes or a weakened immune system.
How to prevent it:
1. Try to keep your ears moisture-free. Wear earplugs while swimming. Don’t forget to remove them immediately after and pull a shower cap over your ears for showering. Dry the out over parts of your ears after these activities, and use buffered alcohol eardrops, available in drug stores, to help evaporate remaining water.
2. Squirt lanolin eardrops into your ears before you swim to protect them from the water. Tilt you head so the drops get to the bottom of the ear canal, then let the liquid drain out.
3. Don’t get any water in the ear canal for three weeks after symptoms disappear, to keep the problem from coming back.
4. Use antiseptic eardrops if you get water in your ear and you have a tendency to get simmer’s ear.
5. Be careful when cleaning earwax from your ears. Don’t use any objects that could scratch the ear canal.
