Airplane Ear: People who are used to traveling by airplane would know that when the flight is at an altitude of thousands of feet, sometimes it causes pain in the ears. It also gets fixed as soon as it lands. But there are some people in whom this problem persists for months. Actually, when a person was in an airplane, he felt heaviness in his ears. When I landed in Delhi, I thought everything would be fine but there was a slight heaviness in the ears. Still he thought that it would get cured on its own but this problem persisted for two-three months. Finally when he went to the doctor he was shocked. If he had not reached there on time, he could have lost his hearing completely. Let us know why this happened.

kept ringing in the ears for months
First let us know what this matter is. According to TOI, a patient named Sai Abhiram said, for several months after the flight, it felt as if I was living underwater. Every sound seemed to be coming from far away, as if the radio was not on the right frequency. There was constant pressure in the ears, which was very tiring. I tried every method, but nothing worked. When Abhiram went to the doctor, the doctors found that there was a long-standing blockage in his Eustachian tube. After this he was advised to undergo Eustachian tube catheterization and dilation. In this modern technique, the narrowed tube is slightly expanded, due to which it again starts working properly to balance the pressure inside the ear. No external incision is made in this procedure, hence it is considered safer and easier than traditional surgery.

Why do ear problems occur?
According to the report, pain in the ear during take-off or landing is called ear barotrauma in medical science. In this the whole game happens due to air pressure. Actually, there is a balance between the external air and the air inside the ear. When someone goes up or down too much, the pressure there increases. When an airplane goes up, the air pressure increases a lot. Due to this, the pressure in the Eustachian tube which extends from the middle ear towards the nose and throat also increases and it becomes weak in balancing the pressure. This is the way to balance body pressure and external pressure, but when there is contraction in this tube, everything goes wrong. That’s why some people get a lot of pain in their ears.

What are the problems?
Generally the ears start feeling heavy. It seems as if the ears are filled with water. The ears keep ringing. Due to this, one cannot even hear clearly. This gets cured after getting off the plane but in some people this problem increases. There is severe ear pain. There is a lot of pressure on the ears. In some people, it starts like ringing in the ears. Some people start feeling dizzy and some people even start bleeding from their ears. In severe cases, permanent hearing loss may occur. When some problems persist even after landing, many passengers ignore the problem of airplane ear or ear barotrauma thinking that this problem will resolve automatically with time. But doing so can prove dangerous.

trouble to ignore
According to TOI news, many such cases are coming to light in recent times. Not only this, after a recent study, doctors have also warned that if there is a problem in the ears even after landing, it should not be ignored. Because this problem can make the ear permanently disabled. TOI quoted senior ENT specialist Major Dr. Rajesh Bhardwaj as saying that the biggest danger is that people consider this problem as normal. They think that it will go away on its own and they continue to live with the problem of hearing loss or fullness in the ears for weeks or months. By then the temporary problem takes the form of a permanent disease. An example of this is 21 year old Sai Abhiram.

visit doctors within a week
According to doctors, modern techniques in ENT examination are playing an important role in timely and accurate identification of such cases. Now experts look directly at the mouth of the Eustachian tube through nasal endoscopy, measure middle ear pressure and eardrum movement with impedance audiometry, and use dynamic CT scans to understand how the tube is functioning under pressure. According to Dr. Bhardwaj, through these tests it becomes clear why the ear is not opening properly, whether the reason is swelling, contraction in the structure of the tube or it is not functioning properly. Doctors say that time is very important. Doctors warn that if the problem of blocked ears persists for more than a week after a flight, then it should not be ignored as just ‘airplane ear’. In such a situation, it becomes necessary to consult a doctor immediately. By getting tested on time, problems lasting for months and permanent loss of hearing can be avoided.