Trapped gas, ears & sinuses

As you climb and the outside pressure falls, air trapped in the ears and sinuses expands. Normally it escapes and you just feel your ears pop (TC AIM AIR 3.6).

The painful problem is usually on the descent, not the climb. A head cold or throat infection swells the Eustachian tube. On the way up air can still escape, but on the way down the swollen tube can close like a flap, so the rising pressure forces the eardrum inward: severe pain, reduced hearing, and possible barotrauma (a ruptured eardrum).

• Equalize by swallowing, yawning, chewing gum, or gently blowing with the nostrils pinched shut.
• If it will not clear on descent, climb back up, clear the ears, then descend gradually, clearing often.
• With a cold, sore throat or allergies, the best advice is to wait until the inflammation subsides before flying.

Trap: assuming the ears only hurt on the climb. The blocked-ear barotrauma hits on the descent, when pressure is rising.

Practice