another "are my ears are @#&$ed" thread

[floid]

first off, i realize i should just pony up and go see a doctor, but i'm broke dammit

anyway, just got back from a road trip on which i underwent numerous elevation shifts - e.g. from Death Valley (-280) to surrounding mountains (+3000 or so) and back, and forth... eventually it got to the place where my right ear refused to pop. now stereo stuff has been sounding lop-sided, and a week later it still feels like my right ear is a little off-pressure...
can you mess up your ears from numerous hella drastic elevation changes in a short time?

[JASIII]

I can't even fly without my ears being fucked for a week. So I go someplace, my ears feel plugged and muffled and hurt for the whole time I'm there, feel better just about the time I get back on a plane to go home and get fucked again. On takeoff, my ears pop and the usual but they're ok. It's landing that does it. I sit there in agony with my fingers in my ears, trying not to freak out from the pain as the plane descends. I've tried those earplugs that are supposed to help, taken sudafed which is supposed to help, chew gum..nothing works.

[floid]

yeah, i did notice that descents seem to be tougher. our dog was going nuts too, he's still pawing at his ears and wanting me to scratch them. my girlfriend, though, says she's not really noticed it since we came out of the Rockies. then too, she's not a smoker and generally lives healthier than me...

[JGriffin]

Coming back from England a couple of years back my left ear was completely freaked out for about 25 minutes after we landed. Not a fun experience.

[high five]

I'm not sure if driving up and down mountains is any different (maybe the descent in a plane happens faster, it that matters?). But I think you can really damage your ears from flying. Like JASIII I've tried all sorts of crap to stop the awful pain of landing, but my ears just won't equalize. It's been bad enough that after one flight my ears were bleeding. My hearing was really muffled too. I saw a doctor, he said my ear canals went in on a sharp angle and he couldn't really do anything to help (I don't remember if he couldn't see in there or what), but I got one of those ear wax irrigation bulb things and big gobs came out.

Since that incident I haven't flown since and it'll take a real good reason to get me back on a plane. Even if it doesn't cause permanent damage, the pain from landing (takeoff is okay) is not worth it. Oh, and I really knew something was wrong with I poured some warm water in one ear and it didn't seem to come out... eep!

[JohnDavisNYC]

I feel very lucky to have absolutely no problems flying... a singer I play with has similar problems flying as described here, but I had no idea it was such a widespread problem... my ears also procude very little wax... maybe a good thing? i dunno.

john

[Immanuel]

I'm also in the 'can not fly' group of people. Twice, I have sat in a plane with tears rolling from my eyes from pain. Last time I did it, my tinitus (broad spectrum noise) went up so much, that I would hear it over cars passing by on a rainy day!! I settles after about a week, but I am not gambling with that again. A friend of mine had similar problems, but her ear doctor inserted small tiny tubes in her ears, which would even out the pressure. I don't know ... I don't like the thought of having small tubes (leakage channels) in my ears. She says, they eventually just fall/grow out themselves, small as they are.