I, a 64-year-old woman, regularly get terrible earaches when taking off and landing an airplane. An American friend takes a tablet for it. Is there such a thing here?
Straw
Joris Bartstra, journalist with medical diploma
Ear pain when rising and falling is caused by a pressure difference between the middle ear (the space behind the eardrum) and the outside world. This is caused by the Eustachian tube not working properly. You get really nasty pain when you no longer manage to open the Eustachian tube – for example by yawning or by holding your nose closed and applying pressure.
A nasal spray containing xylometazoline that shrinks the mucous membranes can help with this, but such a spray does not come into direct contact with the Eustachian tubes. In England there are tablets with a similar agent that you can buy at the drugstore and supermarket. The active substance is called pseudoephedrine. Dutch doctors don’t like those kinds of tablets, by the way: they are an adrenaline-like substance, so you can start to feel rushed and get a fast heartbeat.
Also a health question? Click here and ask the question to an expert!
