People

For some people, going on vacation by plane is really no fun. The difference in pressure causes them enormous earaches. And yes, they already tried everything: chewing gum, earplugs, nasal spray, painkillers ... There are people who for this reason do not even dare to get on a plane anymore. Nose-throat-ear specialist Stephan Vlaminck tells on radio2 what causes this earache and what you can do to prevent it!

Air in the middle ear
"Everything basically revolves around the Eustachian tube and the middle ear," Vlaminck explains. "The middle ear is a closed space that lies behind our eardrum. That middle ear only has the ability to adjust its pressure through the Eustachian tube."

"At ground level, the pressure of the middle ear and the outer ear is the same. When the plane takes off, the air becomes thinner and the air pressure drops. There is then an excess pressure in the middle ear. That excess pressure helps to squeeze open the Eustachian tube so it can easily leave. The pressure is then restored."

"When the plane descends back down, the air pressure goes back up and the middle ear has to get air. It sucks that in through the Eustachian tube, but if that happens too quickly, that tube closes and no more air can get through. This causes tremendous pain. Letting air out is easier than letting air in. That's why descending always hurts more."

What helps?
So your ear needs to be cleared, but it's not that easy. When the plane begins its descent, you should immediately start squeezing by keeping your nose closed. When the Eustachian tube closes, it's actually too late.

"Often people come back from a hot country and the air conditioning is on in the plane and they get a little cold. That creates a big problem: The Eustachian tube is already a bit irritated and swollen by then. A trick is to use nasal spray at the beginning of descending, which decongests and opens the nose. Then you have to wait a while and spray again. There is a good chance you can then solve the problem."

Those other little tricks, like chewing gum, only help when your Eustachian tube isn't having too much trouble with that pressure difference. And earplugs don't help at all, because the problem takes place behind your eardrum, and those don't reach your earplugs, explains the nose-throat ear specialist.

(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: Radio 2/Illustration picture: Unsplash)