What is causing my severe ear pain (only) during a flight descent?

Question

I just went on a trip and got back today.. the trip there, on the second flight on the way there, my left ear only hurt really bad going down. I've always had problems popping my ears and I chew gum every time. So on the way back, during descent, also the second flight, my left ear once again hurt, but it was not just the ear but up to my temples and down my neck slightly in an oval radius. It was very very sharp pains to where my nose was starting to run and my teeth were tightly together.

What I want to know is, what could be possible causes of this, and what are some options I have to alleviate the pain, because I have two more plane trips to go on this year!

Answer 1

chew gum

Answer 2

Hey, I've been there.  To the point of crying and d**n near thinking about asking the flight attendant to help me.  I was even sticking my finger in my ear real hard trying to release the pressure myself.

During descent, cabin pressure changes and adjust so to equal itself against atmospheric pressure outside.  It's a game of checks and balances.  In our case, we don't adjust to the pressure changes inside the plane. Thus, it's all about pressure not being able to release itself or meet the same pressure as that inside the cabin.

  Most time, and this was the case with me, I had a cold or some sort of congestion.  But you really don't know it's a problem until mid-air.  

When this happens, you're d**n near going to feel pain every time because you have almost no release points.  And no amount of popping is going to help.  Still, I'm not going to lie, I tried and tried everything that was supposedly tried and true to no avail.  

It was probably the worse pain I've ever had to deal with.  

You should consider taking a decongestant or antihistamine w/decon.  I used sudafed and it works great.  I never travel by air now without it.

By the way, u don't have to have a cold either.  Most allergy prone flyer's already know they have to do something before they fly.

Your ear is tender and rightfully so.  It's going to be after the insult to the inner ear.   You can try using decongestant for now.  And a pain reliever or anti-inflammatory for the tenderness/pain.  I suspect that by tomorrow, you may still feel a little pain but if you take a pill, even a warm shower (for it's steam properties) you should be fine.