My ears pop like crazy....................

My ears pop like crazy when I fly (especially on the landing). I chew gum and ALWAYS wear ear plugs for the entire trip. It hurts so much!! Anyone know anything else that prevents your ears from poping??

I've noticed that when I yawn, my ears clear. It happens when my mouth is widest open. But it also happens when I slide my bottom jaw forward until I feel my ears clearing. If I keep my jaw slid forward during takeoff and landing, my ears don't pop (but it's worth keeping your head turned towards the window while doing so - I'm sure it looks a bit odd:p)

Thanks. It may look weird but if it works, I so dont care. Im going to try it on my next flight (hopefully in an hour) and I will let you know if it helped.

Keep swallowing.  Sip water or suck boiled sweets.  Not sure that the ear-plugs are helping particularly. 

When I was a child, I had awful problems with ear pain while flying.  On one flight, a stewardess took a styrofoam cup, soaked a cocktail napkin in boiling water, wrung it out so it wasn't drippy, and put it in the bottom of the cup.  She had me put the cup over one ear and then the other, and all the pain went away.  I don't really know why this worked, but it was absolutely amazing.  Also not sure if it prevented popping, but it absolutely took care of the pain.

I make sure to take a nasal decongestant of some sort an hour or two before the flight, and cut WAY back on any dairy products the day before I fly. Keeping my sinuses clear helps me avoid pain in my ears when flying.

Original Post by gi-jane:

Keep swallowing.  Sip water or suck boiled sweets.  Not sure that the ear-plugs are helping particularly. 

 What are 'boiled sweets'?

Didn't realise that was a UK term, sorry :-)  Boiled sweets are the hard, shiny, not-chewy sweets made with boiled sugar ..... like mint humbugs or peardrops.  The type you have to suck until they get smaller!!!!  Is that 'hard candy' in the US?

hey there, i've had the same problem for years... that is until some one passed me along 'pressurized earplugs' (don't know if that's what they're actually called...). they are made out of a hard-ish plastic, one end has a rough spiral thing (this goes in your ear) and the other has a little ceramic ball which equalizes the pressure. you only have to wear them during take-off and landing. these ear plugs, the varicose vein socks and melatonin have made countless long hauls a piece of cake! i'm sure you'd be able to find them online, if not, i'll ask around for where you can buy a pair.

until then, you can you the equalization trick scuba divers use when going deep in the water - hold your nose shut and gently blow out. (key word gently, otherwise you can do some major damage to your ears.)

good luck :-)

I always take Sudafed about an hour before take-off and an hour before landing (if the flight is more than 3 hours).  I know that my brother and I always had a lot of problems with our ears as kids, so our mom had us take a decongestant and use nasal spray before flights. 

Aside from medicine, a kind of funny but effective thing to do is tug down on your eardrums a bit.  Pull gently when they are clogged or popping and sometimes it helps to open up the ear passages.

Good luck!

Wow. Thanks for all the great tips! I will be sure to use a nasal decongestant the next time I fly.

And, NATA, I have a pair of earplugs like that! They do help but sometimes my ears STILL pop.

Sudefed almost always worked wonders for me too when I flied.  I had more problems when I was younger, and my parents always gave it to me.  Luckily I've gown out of it and now i hardly have problems at all, but I remember how painful it was! Good luck.