Air pressure earplugs

CMpunked

Does anybody know of any shops/chemists or online shops with quick delivery times that do these?
I have a bit of a fear of flying, nothing to do with being in the air but that pressure build up in your ear sometimes gives me a headache and would rather not have to deal with it.

Someone said you can get earplugs which regulate the air pressure inside your ear so it isnt actually affected?

leverarch12

You can get them in Boots! They are just the harder plastic ones with kind of ridges right? My ears get awful sore so I use them

CMpunked

leverarch12 wrote: »

You can get them in Boots! They are just the harder plastic ones with kind of ridges right? My ears get awful sore so I use them

I honestly dont even know wht they look like. I was just going to use normal audio earplugs but was warned against them.

coylemj

CMpunked wrote: »

I honestly dont even know wht they look like. I was just going to use normal audio earplugs but was warned against them.

They will do nothing for you.

leverarch12 above is 100% correct, they sell them in Boots. They are called travel ear plugs.

You put then in your ears before take-off. They slow down the equalization of air pressure between the cabin air and your inner ear so that you will not feel any pressure or pain in your ears when the plane is taking off and the same applies when landing.

You can take them out when the plane has reached cruising altitude and you should put them back in about 25 minutes before landing. Bear in mind that a plane reaches cruising altitude after a steep climb but the descent to land takes a lot longer. On a flight lasting no more than 50-60 minutes (most UK flights) you might decide to just leave them in for the entire flight.

You can clean them and use them on your next flight but I throw them in the bin in the arrivals hall when I get home and use a new pair on my next flight i.e. I use a pair for a round trip and them dump them.

This is what the current Boots plugs look like...

CMpunked

Thank you both for the excellent advice.
Would they give enough room on the outside to wear headphones or do they stick out too much?

coylemj

CMpunked wrote: »

Thank you both for the excellent advice.
Would they give enough room on the outside to wear headphones or do they stick out too much?

They do stick out a small bit - you need to be able to grip them to pull them out - you'd need over the ear earphones.

munchkin_utd

the only times I ever had ear pain taking off was when I had a bit of a head cold and I literally felt my head was going to explode. It was a pretty scary and unnatural feeling.

I then asked my doctor and the solution for that is simple, get a decongestant like sudafed or a cheapo generic one. And a nasal decongestant is also useful.
You then just need to pop your ears a few times to avoid build up of pressure, so pinch your nose and blow till the ears pop.

And hey presto, I havent had a problem since!

coylemj

munchkin_utd wrote: »

the only times I ever had ear pain taking off was when I had a bit of a head cold and I literally felt my head was going to explode. It was a pretty scary and unnatural feeling.

I then asked my doctor and the solution for that is simple, get a decongestant like sudafed or a cheapo generic one. And a nasal decongestant is also useful.
You then just need to pop your ears a few times to avoid build up of pressure, so pinch your nose and blow till the ears pop.

And hey presto, I havent had a problem since!

All very well and everybody knows the procedure but the point about the ear plugs is that it removes the need to do any of that. Pop in the ear plugs when they close the door and you don't have to worry about the air pressure changing.

Keeping the ear plugs in for the entire flight also protects your eardrums if there is a sudden decompression.

spikey95

coylemj wrote: »

...Pop in the ear plugs when they close the door and you don't have to worry about the air pressure changing.

And miss out hearing the safety demonstrations by the steward for the umpteenth? Never!

;-)

coylemj

spikey95 wrote: »

And miss out hearing the safety demonstrations by the steward for the umpteenth? Never!

;-)

I know that's tongue in cheek but they have very little effect on your hearing.

leverarch12

When I put mine in Im almost completely deaf!