Son's First Flight -- Extra Sensitive Ears

[deejdigsdis]

My son and I will be flying to Disneyland soon. He is 11 years old and this will be his first flight. He seems to have very sensitive ears when it comes to changing elevation. He experiences a lot of discomfort when changing elevation just while driving. Any ideas for how I can help his ears while flying? Thanks.

 

[21yankees]

I'm the same way. I also have flown quite a bit.

If he doesn't have braces I highly recommend gum for take-off and landing. If he does have braces give him something to eat (again for take-off and landing). I've found that the chewing helps relieve the pressure as well as the ear popping.


steph

 

[sierranevada]

Besides what Steph recommended, some people swear by Flight ear plugs:

http://www.amazon.com/FRANZUS-TS-157EP-EarPlanes-Flight-Protection/dp/B0000C1KT4

Good luck

 

[Queenbillabong]

My son and I will be flying to Disneyland soon. He is 11 years old and this will be his first flight. He seems to have very sensitive ears when it comes to changing elevation. He experiences a lot of discomfort when changing elevation just while driving. Any ideas for how I can help his ears while flying? Thanks.

My son had a horrible time his first flight. His ears were so painful. Our doc recommended taking Tylenol Sinus (or Advil Sinus) 20 minutes before take off and if it's a longer than four hour flight, 20 minutes before descent. This has saved him a lot of pain

 

[keelhauled]

Tell him to "yawn". A big deep yawn (even a fake one) was the only way I was able to relieve the pressure when I was young.

 

[Marilynbn]

My daughter, now 19 has suffered with this for years. We take a 3 prong approach to this. #1 take sudafed one hour prior to landing. It is usually the descent of the airplane that bothers people...quick lowering of elevation. #2 buy the "airplanes" ear plugs that go inside the ears. And lastly #3 put two very warm/wet but not dripping paper towels in 2 cups and cup these over his ears as you are descending. This opens up the ear canals because of the heat of the paper towels. This works great and was suggested by a stewardess many years ago when my daughter was crying in pain. Take out the airplane plugs before cupping the ears. The main thing is to open the tubes in the ears which is where the pain and pressure come from. The sudafed is a non-drowsy decongestant....not antihistamine... very important difference. Good luck!

~Marilyn

 

[starshine514]

I have the same problem with my ears! Earplanes definitely help. Our CVS carries them in the regular size, as well as kidplanes, which are a bit smaller (not sure what size your son would need). The other thing that I have found that helps is to periodically (say, one or twice each minute) on the descent, take a big breath, hold your nose closed with your fingers and close your mouth, and try to exhale as hard as you can (I always imagine trying to push the air out of my ears). It clears the pressure quickly, but must be repeated until the plane is grounded (ideally until they depressurize the cabin). I started doing this when I misplaced my earplanes for the return trip on a flight and haven't used earplanes since. They do work, though! Gum, yawning, chewing and such never worked for me...

 

[mellers]

My son and I will be flying to Disneyland soon. He is 11 years old and this will be his first flight. He seems to have very sensitive ears when it comes to changing elevation. He experiences a lot of discomfort when changing elevation just while driving. Any ideas for how I can help his ears while flying? Thanks.

I have the same problem--I've found that if I take a water bottle and a straw, and drink through the straw, it helps clear my ears.

I also noticed that you say your son is 11--I don't know how "soon" is "soon", but if you are traveling during Presidents Week, a bunch of us are trying to set up an Animation Class on the 21st of February. The class is 3-3.5 hours, and you can either get steeply discounted park hopper tickets which include the class, or it's $15 if you already have tickets for the add-on.

If you're interested, PM me or mydisneyobsession.

 

[skiingfast]

I have had to deal with this a lot. I live by some mountain passes that we drive often, and of course ski lifts all winter.

It works the same as chewing gum to move the ear canal.

You just talk all through the ascent and descent. It's free.

 

[jory29]

Besides what Steph recommended, some people swear by Flight ear plugs:

http://www.amazon.com/FRANZUS-TS-157EP-EarPlanes-Flight-Protection/dp/B0000C1KT4

Good luck

These ear planes are the BEST but I would make sure he has them in from start to finish, and make sure they remain tightly in there. My DD and I both used them and loved them.

I would also go with the medication to dry up nasal muscous as suggested, and I would also give Tylenol or ibuprofren on the plane a while before landing, in case there is any ear pain.

I always have horrible ears on flights and one time our Dr. suggested we not fly, as I had fluid built up behind my ear drum. I used the ear planes and they probably saved my ear drum. The ear planes make it so that you can easily unpop your ears when you fly, rather than painfully, over and over again trying to unpop them, I can usually unpop them on the first couple of tries when the earplanes are in.

I also have heard that ring pop candies are good for kids to suck on when their ears are prone to popping, the motion works better than chewing gum, some say.

 

[jory29]

My daughter, now 19 has suffered with this for years. We take a 3 prong approach to this. #1 take sudafed one hour prior to landing. It is usually the descent of the airplane that bothers people...quick lowering of elevation. #2 buy the "airplanes" ear plugs that go inside the ears. And lastly #3 put two very warm/wet but not dripping paper towels in 2 cups and cup these over his ears as you are descending. This opens up the ear canals because of the heat of the paper towels. This works great and was suggested by a stewardess many years ago when my daughter was crying in pain. Take out the airplane plugs before cupping the ears. The main thing is to open the tubes in the ears which is where the pain and pressure come from. The sudafed is a non-drowsy decongestant....not antihistamine... very important difference. Good luck!

~Marilyn

I would not take out the earplane plugs before doing the steam treatment, as once you are in a certain state of flight the plugs won't work if you put them in again... I would hesitate to use the cups with warm steam UNLESS the earplane plugs have to come out, or if in too much pain, etc. but if the earplane plugs are used correctly, they help a whole bunch.

Excellent point you made on making sure it is a decongestant and NOT an antihistamine. I agree!

 

[jory29]

My son had a horrible time his first flight. His ears were so painful. Our doc recommended taking Tylenol Sinus (or Advil Sinus) 20 minutes before take off and if it's a longer than four hour flight, 20 minutes before descent. This has saved him a lot of pain

Great idea to combine the pain relief and or antinflammatory with the decongestant!! I like the idea of Advil Sinus better for a flight, I think it would help any pain a bit better than Tylenol, but for kids, and adults too, the concern is that they have to have food in their stomaches first if taking the advil (ibuprofen.)

 

[Karenann*]

I suffer as well from this and so does my daughter. Agree with all suggestions and thanks for the new idea of cupping the ears.

On the smaller commuter or connecting flights, inform the flight crew that this is a problem and they can make more gradual descent at many airports. This really helps alleviate the severity of the pressure! The larger planes also are capable of making more gradual descent if you inform them.

We do this on every flight and the crew is always accomodating and understanding!

 

[brookies_mommy]

My DD isn't too bad.. but I just give her gum before we take off, and when we land. She has never complained when i do that.

 

[bumbershoot]

Earplanes help DS.

But he does NOT have to keep them in the whole time, and that's an OK way to use them. He doesn't need them during takeoff, or most of the flight. Half an hour before we start descent (it's tricky keeping track of this on flights that don't have seatback monitor map/GPS things like on Virgin America, but I do my best) I put them in his ears, and he does really well.

He'd go bananas if he had to have them in the whole time!

 

[my2mickeykids]

Great info! My DD has severe ear pain when landing and we were going to be looking into what to do for our next trip. Gum just does not cut it for her. Gonna try both the meds and flight ear plugs.

 

[Queenbillabong]

Great info! My DD has severe ear pain when landing and we were going to be looking into what to do for our next trip. Gum just does not cut it for her. Gonna try both the meds and flight ear plugs.

Gum doesn't work for my son either - he enjoys the gum, for sure, but there's just something with the anatomy of his ears that they have problems with flying. Found out the hard way at midnight landing with four other planes, no water to take meds, and a screaming in pain child going through Customs. Not fun for him at all.

 

[starshine514]

Earplanes help DS.

But he does NOT have to keep them in the whole time, and that's an OK way to use them. He doesn't need them during takeoff, or most of the flight. Half an hour before we start descent (it's tricky keeping track of this on flights that don't have seatback monitor map/GPS things like on Virgin America, but I do my best) I put them in his ears, and he does really well.

He'd go bananas if he had to have them in the whole time!

When I use earplanes, I do something similar, as soon as the plane starts descending (before they announce it), I put them in. However, I know that's when my ears start to give me trouble already (giving that this is the OP son's first flight, I'm not sure...). Earplanes are uncomfortable, I wouldn't want to wear them the whole flight unless I had to. I'm hoping that since her son is 11, he'll be open to wearing them because he knows the pain that his ears can give him.

 

[deejdigsdis]

OP here. Wow, thank you for all the replies! I haven't had a chance to read through all of them yet. I'm sure to find something that will work from all these suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Just a warning... sudafed may say it is non-drowsy, but in my experience, I get extremely drowsy on it... it is also not available over the counter in some states (like Oregon where I live) but your pediatrician might be willing to write you an Rx for it.