Why do my ears pop on airplanes and how do I make it stop?
Every time a plane takes off or lands my ears feel clogged and painful, and the popping doesn't always relieve it. Sometimes my ears feel weird for hours afterward. Why does this happen? Is there a way to prevent the pain? Do those special earplugs work? It makes me dread flying.
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I'm not a doctor and you should definitely talk to your physician about this. That said, the general medical consensus seems to be that moderation is key. Most health concerns come from extremes in either direction.
5 Answers
I'm not a doctor and you should definitely talk to your physician about this. That said, the general medical consensus seems to be that moderation is key. Most health concerns come from extremes in either direction.
Stress does more damage to your health than people give it credit for. Half the physical symptoms I used to worry about turned out to be tension and anxiety. Sometimes the best medicine is a vacation and a good night's sleep.
The boring stuff actually works: get enough sleep, drink water, move your body every day, eat more vegetables, don't smoke. There's no magic pill. The companies selling magic pills are the ones making money off people wanting an easy answer.
I had this same concern and went to see a specialist. It turned out to be much less serious than I thought. But getting professional medical advice gave me peace of mind. If you have insurance, use it — that's what it's for.
My advice: don't self-diagnose using the internet. You'll convince yourself you have some rare terrible disease when it's probably nothing. I did this once and worked myself into a panic over what turned out to be a pulled muscle.
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