has anyone ever used these ear plugs when flying? I have been reading about them and see they are suppose to help with keeping pressure equalized in the ear. I have horrible ear pressure and fullness and have to fly the beginning of may. I am seeing an ENT this monday and hope to find out whats going on but worried if i cant resolve my problem i dont want be in severe pain when flying. If anyone has tried these please let me know what you think of them..thanks!
I flew for the first time in my life in 2010 at age 58. I used EarPlanes and they seemed to work for me. Maybe I wouldn't have had a problem anyway. If I ever fly again, I'll use them again.
The Following User Says Thank You to choirgirl For This Useful Post: buffalonygal (03-20-2012)
I used them before I got my pressure equalization tubes put in to try to protect my ears, since I have ETD and barotrauma (apparently) caused by flying with congestion. They seemed to help. Also, my ENT at the time advised that I use sudafed and afrin nasal spray when flying. You can look up how to do this by searching online for flying with eustachian tube dysfunction.
The Following User Says Thank You to jenni9033 For This Useful Post: buffalonygal (03-31-2012)
Thanks!!! My ent told me the same thing about using afrin and a decongestant b4 i fly. She also said to get a pair of earplanes before i even asked about them.......so i will get them for sure.........she said i have really small ear canals and need to get the kids size so i m gona get a pr. for sure!
The following user gives a hug of support to buffalonygal: jenni9033 (03-31-2012)
I've been reading through a lot of your posts and I've had similar symptoms to what you've had, and I'm scheduled to have a grommet inserted into my left ear. My ENT consultant mentioned to me that there is some space behind the ear drum, space in which fluid can become trapped and obscure from being visible through an otoscope. I've seen loads of doctors over the 2 years I've had symptoms for, a lot of them said nothing looks wrong, a lot said my ear drums look retracted, 1 said I have fluid behind my ear drums amongst other visible symptoms.
Anyways, I've seen you've had a grommet inserted. Can you tell me if it's worked for you please? I'm optimistic that it will work for me, given that my symptoms stem from a cold I had years ago and the sensations I get strongly feel like fluid. Only thing is, I'm petrified it might worsen my symptoms. Any info you can give me is very much appreciated.
Cheers!
The Following User Says Thank You to pacfan For This Useful Post: jenni9033 (05-03-2012)
Hi Pacfan, I'm sorry but I missed your request for information from me until now. To answer your question, the pe tubes I had inserted did help somewhat with the feeling of pressure building up in my ears, especially with altitude changes and with flying. I live in a hilly area, so I was in misery almost every day. Even shutting the car door would send my ears over the edge, filling them with pressure, tickling sensations, a feeling like fluid (even though doctors claimed I had no fluid). I wouldn't say the tubes were a perfect fix, however. I still have some kind of ETD...right now, as best we know it's caused by allergy and TMJD as underlying problems, so working on getting those issues corrected and hopefully fix the ears.
So, to break it down, I can now drive/fly without experiencing worse problems than before. But I am still symptomatic from day to day, especially in the afternoon and evening.
The pe tubes also did not make my symptoms worse (the left tube did create its own swelling/pressure, but this subsided within a week or two). They didn't make my tinnitus worse. If anything, I have tinnitus less these days than before.
I used EarPlanes and they seemed to work for me. Maybe I wouldn't have had a problem anyway. If I ever fly again, I'll use them again.
