Ryan-Air-Pressure

senordingdong

I've notice a strange pattern that everytime I fly with Ryanair, I get these awful headaches...well, I guess they're not actually headaches.
It starts as this tingling in the ear, then procedes into this pain in the ear drum area and it feels like my ears should be bleeding...then it proceeds further into this agonising feeling like half of my head is expanding and my ear drum is aobut to explode. I can only assume it is related to the air pressure.

It only happens with Ryanair too.
I assume I'm the onyl one who this happens to?

zeusnero

your not the only one - happens to me regularly enough. As far as I know chewing during take off helps to reduce the build up of pressure so have a packet of chewing gum handy (may not work for everyone but give it a shot anyway...)

Once I had a head cold and had to fly - one of the most painful experiences ever as my head felt like it was going to explode

EDIT: Check out this site for some remedies: http://lala.essortment.com/earandflying_rqvp.htm

senordingdong

I totally get what you mean, but my problem is that I never do that and never suffer the consequences unless I fly with Ryanair.
Seriously, I've flown on many airlines and Ryanair is the only one it happens on.

KdjaCL

Hold nose close mouth, blow really hard.


kdjac

CantGetNoSleep

happens me with every airline, especially as the plane starts to descend, sucking on a fruit sweet might help

Glowing

It sounds like your ears aren't equalising. I got the same problem scuba diving, and I took a decongestant like Actifed or Sudifed to sort it out. This would probably work for you but I'd check with your GP first.

smurfbaby

OP this happens me too, only with Ryanair! I've never ever had a problem with it before until I took a Ryanair flight to London a couple of years ago. The pain was excruciating. It's only happened on Ryanair flights since then so I try to avoid them completely. It never happens me on other airlines, wther short hop or long haul. I don't klnow if there's a logical reason for it or if it's just coincidence?

senordingdong

smurfbaby wrote:

OP this happens me too, only with Ryanair! I've never ever had a problem with it before until I took a Ryanair flight to London a couple of years ago. The pain was excruciating. It's only happened on Ryanair flights since then so I try to avoid them completely. It never happens me on other airlines, wther short hop or long haul. I don't klnow if there's a logical reason for it or if it's just coincidence?

Haha yes!
Because it's only with the one airline it happens, I think it has to be related to their plane type or the pressure levels or something!
I wish there was a small air pressure measuring instrument I could get my hands on!

marcphisto

I get this regularly also and the only thing that has worked is a decongestant like Glowing suggested. If you have forgotten the decongestant and are on the plane then try the strongest mints that they have. Keeping the earphones from my mp3 player in the ears during the descent has helped me also.

jonny68

Yep ive got this before as well on several occasions.:(

Third_Echelon

I have noticed this on ryanair as well...

I fly quite a bit with work, and i never get it on any other airline. I reckon it is something to do with their cabin pressure settings as one of the other posters had mentioned.

senordingdong

Haha brilliant! I thought I was the only one!!!

MarkR

Must be the cheap air they are using.

I read recently that low cost airlines often take heroic efforts to save money, ie landing as close as possible to the terminal etc. Maybe they are ascending / descending really quickly. Or even coasting for a bit!

senordingdong

MarkR wrote:

Must be the cheap air they are using.

Could be second hand!

So to all the other people that this happens to...do you all try sucking on sweets and what not?

John_Mc

MarkR wrote:

Must be the cheap air they are using.

I read recently that low cost airlines often take heroic efforts to save money, ie landing as close as possible to the terminal etc. Maybe they are ascending / descending really quickly. Or even coasting for a bit!

Ryanair fly Boeing 737-800's almost exclusively, I would hazard a guess that your problem lies with the aircraft rather than the airline.

As for different cabin pressure settings to other Airlines, this cannot be the case as the pressure system is completely automatic. It would therefore be the same as all other Airlines flying the 737-800.

All airlines strive to reduce fuel consumption by delaying their point of descent so that the plane can set it's engines to idle and use gravity to maintain their speed during descent. It is the same with all airlines.

The only cost cutting measure I've heard of Ryanair pilots doing is exiting the runway at a faster speed so that they could literally roll the whole way to ramp.

I'd ask over on the PPRUNE message boards as I'm sure the professionals can provide a more complete explanation for you

Darwin

I've only flown with Ryanair on one occasion to Edinburgh, but I noticed the plane made a fairly sharp descent (after straight and level flight) that was quite uncomfortable. I'm not used to flying such short routes so perhaps it's always that way?

John_Mc

A steeper than normal descent will almost always be combined with the spoilers being raised on the airplane. You'll notice when this happens because there'll be a loud enough rumbling sound and light vibration.

The aircraft needs to do this to prevent acceleration from a steep descent. A normal descent on the other hand, will be calculated by the flight computer so that the aircraft can descend with engines at idle while still remaining at the same speed.

This is the same for all airlines

senordingdong

John_Mc wrote:

Ryanair fly Boeing 737-800's almost exclusively, I would hazard a guess that your problem lies with the aircraft rather than the airline.

As for different cabin pressure settings to other Airlines, this cannot be the case as the pressure system is completely automatic. It would therefore be the same as all other Airlines flying the 737-800.

All airlines strive to reduce fuel consumption by delaying their point of descent so that the plane can set it's engines to idle and use gravity to maintain their speed during descent. It is the same with all airlines.

The only cost cutting measure I've heard of Ryanair pilots doing is exiting the runway at a faster speed so that they could literally roll the whole way to ramp.

I'd ask over on the PPRUNE message boards as I'm sure the professionals can provide a more complete explanation for you

That's very interesting, must look into it.

Moanin

You guys need to equalise (Hold nose and close mouth and try and blow hard through nose).If you don't equalise you are in danger of bursting an ear drum!