travel question

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ronney525

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i will be having to travel soon via airplane. i have a few concerns. perhaps someone will have an answer or some input for me. i am concerned about ear pressure. my soft palale has fallen and i cannot blow my nose. so i am anxious about equalizing any pressure on take off and landing.
also does anyone know if there might be anu problems breathing with the high altitudes?
thanks in advance for any input.
 
Hi,

Those are really interesting questions.

Oxygen is thinner in the upper atmosphere - but the airplane cabin is pressurized so the oxygen level should be similar to what your are used to - so you should not have trouble breathing - this is just an educated guess though.

As for equalizing - I think most people flying don't even know enough to equalize the pressure in their ears by pinching their nose and blowing - and babies fly all the time and I'm sure they are not equalizing. You obviously won't have any trouble on take off - but you may experience some discomfort on the descent - but your ears will eventually equalize on their own once you are on the ground.

I don't have any first hand experience on this though...

Good luck.

Richard
 
Most aircraft cabins are pressurized to an 8000 ft altitude when they are up at 30 to 40 thousand feet. You may notice a bit of difference in breathing but it should not be a problem. Take an aisle seat if possible and stand up or walk if you notice any shortness of breath. You probably won't have any problems. I flew last year no problem and I am on a Bipap at night.
As for equalizing chew gum on take off and landing if you can or at least suck on a hard candy. When all else fails wiggle your jaw side to side and do a yawning motion. That used to work when I used to scuba dive. Works in planes too. Have a good flight.
 
I know when we took my son on an airplane, when he was a little baby, I was worried about the preasure on his ears. We gave him a binky (pacifier) to suck on and he did great. You would probably look pretty silly using a binky on a plane, but the other thing you can do is get a sucker and suck away. This is what we did with my son when he was a little older and no longer took a binky. The sucker did the trick. You can also drink something and a lot of times this will pop your ears. Swallow really hard though. Hope this helps.
Dana
 
thanks all. i feel somewhat better.
problem is i can no longer swallow.
so drinking, chewing or sucking might not work.
but i will try it all.
again thanks.
 
Hi Ronney,
I don't have a good answer to your question, but just wanted you to know that you are not alone with the things you cannot do. I cannot blow my nose, suck, chew, or drink either. Never thought about what I would do if I wanted to fly. Good question.
Leah
 
If you plug your nose and blow, your ears pop too. I don't know if you will be able to do this or not, but it's another trick to try. Good luck.
Dana
 
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