Finally! A Solution For Ear Blockage!

Spending day after day surrounded by hundreds of people in a pressurized metal tube 35,000ft in the air, you are bound to have a few conflicts with germs. If you are like me, any little amount of congestion combined with the pressure of the airplane is a recipe for a painful disaster. I have had 4 cases of a blocked ear, 2 resulting in a near eardrum rupture in my short career as a flight attendant. I'm not too keen on using manufactured drugs but not knowing any other way, I loaded up each time on the highest dosage of Pseudoephedrine (decongestant) and Nasonex (steroid) possible and hoped for the best. Regardless of all these strong drugs, I still ended up with many painful landings and a huge fear of flying while congested.

After my last near rupture I consulted one of my naturopaths on a possible solution. She began by explaining to me just what was happening to cause the pain in my ear. When you become congested, your body is producing more mucus than it can drain and it gets trapped in your sinuses. Unfortunately our sinuses don't have automatic mucus shut off valves, so when they become full, that does not mean the mucus stops producing. Instead, it finds new places to live, such as your ears, causing pressure. When you experience pressure changes (ie in an airplane) the mucus's home gets smaller and it begins to seek a new place to go. When it can't drain in it's natural way, it begins to press on your ear drum, demanding to be set free. This is when you experience agonizing pain and in some cases, a ruptured ear drum. So, the goal to focus on is encouraging drainage.

It's been a few months since I was enlightened by this knowledge and given several solutions but had yet to share them with you. This is because I wanted to try them first to ensure they worked and to have actual experience with them. The opportunity finally presented itself this week in the form of a nasty head cold, and I am overly pleased to report that they worked! So, it is my privilege to share with you these phenomenal preventive tips that will change your life in the sky.

 Xlear

(found at natural pharmacies, food stores and supplement stores such as supper supplements)
 

This all natural nasal spray is made with the sweetener xylitol, purified water, salt and grapefruit seed extract (used as a preservative). The xylitol breaks up mucus almost instantly. Unlike decongestants and antihistamines, Xlear adds moisture to your nasal passages helping them stay clear. Spray one pump in one side of your nose, plugging the other side and sniffing several times as you do so. Leaning your head slightly to the same side helps the solution travel to your eustachian tubes. Repeat on other side. After a few moments you will feel the drainage. The sweetness you taste in the back of your throat is the xylitol carrying your congestion out of your sinuses. 

Use when you feel the need from day to day and once every hour when you are congested. Since this spray is all natural, you can use it often without any side effects.

Peppermint Essential Oil

(found anywhere essential oils are sold such as natural food stores, supplement stores and herb shops)
 

In the back of your throat, on either side, there is a slit where your sinuses drain. First, find this spot. It's fairly far back in your throat and you may feel like you are choking yourself a little but if you relax your muscles you shouldn't have a problem. Once you locate these spots, place a drop of peppermint oil on your finger and gently massage it into each slit, using 1 drop per slit. The powerful strength of this oil will pull the mucus out of your sinuses and help them drain quickly. It also aids in cooling a soar throat.

If you don't have peppermint oil with you, toothpaste or anything that has the same strong, cooling effect may be used in the identical manner. This process is not very pretty and slightly uncomfortable but I can't express to you how worth it it is. An added bonus? Minty fresh breath!

Massage

You can encourage drainage through massage as well. Find the tendon that runs from behind your earlobe to just above your collar bone. Use two fingers to thump the tendon on the side of the least clogged ear from top to bottom (about 3 or 4 thumps). Repeat on the opposite side. Once you have completed a couple sets of thumps, stroke the same area from ear to collar bone with as much pressure as you can without hurting yourself. This process helps break up mucus and encourages drainage.

Xylitol Gum

Chewing gum made with xylitol is also quite helpful. As mentioned before, the xylitol breaks up mucus while the motion of chewing helps to get it moving.

Because I am not a health care provider and have not tried this before I can only speculate that dissolving xylitol in warm water, possibly adding a drop or two of peppermint oil and placing in a bottle or sippy cup might be a great way to help babies and small children who suffer from ear pressure while flying. The xylitol gum is a great thing to give children who are old enough to chew it but be sure to do so before their ears begin to hurt.

The main goal here is prevention. Once your ear becomes blocked, there is little you can do to reverse it. So when you begin feeling congested, get out your nose spray!

In my experience, these natural aids, along with the knowledge of what I needed to prevent, helped me more than the strongest decongestant ever has. I made it through a working trip as well as a pleasure trip during my head cold without any pain whatsoever in my ears. I do have to admit, I still used a decongestant on my last 2 flights out of 4 when the congestion in my ears got really bad. I don't know if it made a difference or if I would have been just fine without them but I wasn't willing to take the risk. I do believe it is OK to use manufactured drugs when they are truly need but they are not something anyone should be taking frequently. If nothing else, these natural cures have significantly decreased my consumption of decongestants and I am grateful for that.

My new 2 best friends!

As Always,

Here's to Life, Love, Health and Happiness! Cheers!