Air travel health problem?

My daughter and I recently travelled by air, for her it was the first tme, I noticed that she had severe pains in her ears during the flight. What is the cause and how can it be cured. Thanks.

air pressure differences. They used to give out boiled sweets to eat during flights, which alleviated this. That's the answer - give her some sweeties to munch on and that somehow keeps the ears from hurting.

it's the air pressure in the ear. suck a sweet. or swallow hard and it stops.

i have the same problem im 12 years old well i told the crew and the gave me 2 plastic cups which had tissue in them they poured

boiling water in it (only a little) then they waited for the tissue to observe the water it was steaming i had to cover my ears with the open ring the pain went away in 2 mins

same with my brother for ear infection!

Sweetie it happens to everyone!!! It's the air pressure when the plane goes up and down. I started crying because it hurted me to much. you can't really cure it..



http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApMgt7avx5h9i1Cd2rruKufAFQx.;_ylv=3?qid =20080815085857AAjQZaE

The air pressure in the airplane changes as you go higher or lower, and this presses or pulls on the eardrum, which can cause pain if there's a big difference in pressure. There's a tube behind the eardrum that leads to your mouth, and normally air moves in and out of this tube to equalize the pressure so that it doesn't hurt. If something blocks the tube (like a cold or flu) or if it's very small (as in small children), sometimes the pressure difference gets quite large and becomes painful—it can hurt terribly in the worst cases.

Chewing something helps to open the tube so that air can get in or out. Chewing gum or soft chewy candy can work. Swallowing air can help because the tube may open briefly during the swallowing. Holding your nose and exhaling can force air into the tube (only when going down, not when going up), but you have to be careful not to blow too hard.

Avoid old airplanes if you have sensitive ears. The early airplanes required that pressure in the cabin be adjusted manually, and it was difficult to do it smoothly. Newer airplanes have a computer that does it automatically and much more gently. It can be hard to figure out how old an airplane is, though—for example, the oldest 737s have the old-fashioned manual pressure controls, but the newest do it by computer.

Children are more prone to pain in their ears when landing, You could ask her to keep her nose closed, and try to blow out of it as hard as she can till she hears a "pop", or she can hold her nose, and try to swallow until she hears a "pop" again. You can ask a flight attendant for some cups with a hot wet tissue (we call them Mickey Mouse ears, kids think it's fun to do), I don't know if it really works because the eardrum in adults aren't as flexible as a child's, apparently the steam softens the eardrum.

Hi,
I have found this site to be useful. Check it out.