AN Pressure and airplanes

[mema]

   Seems my whole life the pressure change on an airplane left me with an earache for a day or two.  My mother reacts the same way. Now after FSR treatment and all these little goody symptoms I have , as I read posts about barametric pressure effects or full moon effects I wonder does anyone have problems being on an airplane.  I haven't been on a plane and am a little leerie about it.  I don't think my AN caused my earaches of long ago.



                                   mema

[HeadCase2]

mema,
  I've flown a few times since AN treatment with no problems.  But then I didn't have any problems flying before AN.  If you had problems before AN diagnosis that were not related to AN, those issues may still be there.
Regards,
 Rob

[Yvette]

I'm not sure, but my AN specialist at the Mayo Clinic in MN. said flying is no problem-SCUBA diving however is. Hope you do ok, Yvette

[Sefra22]

Flying has always been a problem for me. I've tried gum, nasal spray, decongestants, but nothing helps to reduce the presssure.
I go almost completely deaf during descent, and the pain can be quite intense for me.
I found however, if I take an Avil a half hour before descent, I have no pain at all.(Still deaf,though) I think my condition is inherited from my father. In his youth he trained to be a pilot, but couldn't continue because he could not hear instructions from the tower as he was landing.
Lisa

[linnilue]

I hadn't flown for 2 1/2 years because I too was fearful.  However, due to a family emrgency I was forced to fly 3 weeks ago and have been on six flights since then.  I literally had no problem except for a bit of extra tinnitus for a few hours after but that was it.  sS once again, I am a frequent flyer and very happy to do so.  

[Windsong]

I love flying ... so when i got the pressure, plugged ear, deaf etc. etc. stuff i did the nasal sprays(oticon), gum, plug your nose and blow routine and all that... about 3 yrs later i had fluid behind the eardrums and a few ent appts... eventually it became too frequent so a new ent gave me tubes (well i also had some eustachian tube probs and some chronic fluid and etc...) and then as i might have said in another post somehwere, I was in nirvana... no more pressure, no more flight probs..... always made sure i had a tube still functioning before I went on a trip anywhere....

Well, the An was found later....

... the intricacies of ear pressure and symptoms,  simply haven't been  unravelled although more is known now than let's say 20 yrs ago.....
definitely pressure effects have something to do with what we experience....

i find it kind of weird that any doc might say well diving is not such a good thing when really doesn't descending and ascending in a jet do things to one's ears?  heck i never did get on the concord lol and see how mach 2 worked on my ears....

still, i think lots of Aners fly ok.... maybe it has to do with personal ear configurations, biochemistry, and where an An is located and oh a whole bunch of variables... no wonder  we don't know why we have probs even with a storm front coming through ....

ever been in a rapidly descending elevator and had ear probs or vestibular probs....

W.

[Lorenzo]

I flew half way accross the world and back for Ck treatment, and have been flying ever since, with no additional problem. Even ear pains have not materialised. Nobody ever said I couldn't or shouldn't.
Ciao
Lorenzo

[ppearl214]

I flew 8 mos post-CK from the States to England (6-7 hr flight at 43,000 feet altitude).  The flight over was a bit rough for me as the pilot took a different flight plan than usual and had to do a sharp altitude drop into the London area (came in over the English Channel then a sharp dip into London). With the sudden altitude drop, I had extreme headpain and pressure.  Took a couple of days for me to recupe.... yet... on the flight back to the States, the pilot took the usual flight plan and a gentle desent into Boston and I handled it fine with no issues.  For me, the sudden altitude drop was the issue.... but after that, no problems.

For anyone traveling, bon voyage and send me a postcard

Phyl

[Ellenmn]

I have flown several times since my radiation with no more problems than I've always had. (the ears pluggin up and not being able to hear) I just flew to Califorina the other week and even with a growing AN I still had no probelm.

[krbonner]

I spend the last week in AZ (flew home yesterday) with no problems.  But I'd never had any issues with pressure or ear pain pre-op.

Katie

[macintosh]

I've always had earaches from flying. Having an AN, and having radiosurgery for it, didn't make it any worse. But earplugs help a lot. Even the basic little rubber ones in the drugstore do me just as much good as the fancy tube types sold in airports that claim to balance pressure. Even though the earache only starts at descent, I put the plugs  in way ahead of time, and this reduces the problem a lot.

[redgrl]

I have flown a few times now. The only thing that bothered me was my eye got really dry. But everything else went smooth.