Ear "popped" inflight.

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wildwobby

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wildwobby
During my lesson on saturday, we were practicing a whole bunch of stuff to review for the checkride. My ears were in no pain the entire flight, and we were never any higher than 3000 MSL, but were doing things like stalls.

As soon as I took my headset off, I had the sensation that my right ear was popped. I figured it would go away in a few minutes, but the minutes turned into hours, and the hours turned into 4 days and counting. I went to the ear/nose/throat doctor yesterday, and they told me it has nothing to do with pressure, but was an inner ear problem. They told me it is a 60% chance that its a virus, and prescribed me Valtrex and some other medication (I cant remember the name right now).

What scares me is that there is a 40% chance that the reason behind the sudden hearing loss/irritation is unexplained and may never go away. The doctor says he thinks it has nothing to do with the problem, but I just don't see how a virus could cause a sudden hearing loss during the course of an airplane ride.

I am wondering that maybe the doctor's view of an airplane is a that of a pressurize airliner, and obviously a Cessna 150 doesn't have quite that technology. I think maybe it has something to do with the sudden pressure changes during the stalls or something. Either way, they did test the pressure in both ears and found it to be normal.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Maybe someone here has had a similar problem before?
 
I've never had any problems - and neither have my 'ear sensitive' passengers - when tooling around at 3k MSL. Heck, even the airliners only pressurize their cabins to around 8k I think.

Depending on what headset you were wearing, it's possible that over time, as it compressed onto your head, if you sweated a bit, it could have formed a pretty tight seal around your ear. When you took your headset off, it could have been what caused the pop. Maybe the virus was already there, which just made the 'pop' more pronounced.

But what do I know. I'm not a Dr. and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. ;)
 
wildwobby said:
Does anyone have any other ideas? Maybe someone here has had a similar problem before?
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Yes. :)

The condition is called "Eustachian tube dysfunction." I suffer from this (especially in my right ear) and routinely perform the Valsalva maneuver about every 1000 feet or so during descents to equalize pressure.
 
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I have had this problem. The easiest fix is to go back up to the same altitude (or higher if the pressure is markedly different) and clear your ear. Then, descend VERY slowly, clearing your ears every couple hundred feet or so.

That, or just wait, and eventually, make a week or 2 later, it will depressurize itself when the barometric pressure changes drastically on the ground.
 
CJones said:
I've never had any problems - and neither have my 'ear sensitive' passengers - when tooling around at 3k MSL. Heck, even the airliners only pressurize their cabins to around 8k I think.

Depending on what headset you were wearing, it's possible that over time, as it compressed onto your head, if you sweated a bit, it could have formed a pretty tight seal around your ear. When you took your headset off, it could have been what caused the pop. Maybe the virus was already there, which just made the 'pop' more pronounced.
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Your lack of Holiday Inn time shows;). Baring a shaved head, no glasses, and a liberal coating of grease, there's no way a headset could seal well enough to a person's head to "pop" their ears when the headset was removed minutes later. And even if the headset to head seal was perfect, the headsets themselves are vented.

Also FWIW, for ear problems it's not the altitude it's the rate of altitude change over time. Airline cabins not only stay at or below 8000 PA, they also rarely exceed a few hundred FPM of change and that's why partial blockages present less of a problem in an airliner than in a Cherokee. A near total block can be quite painful, even in an airliner.
 
gismo said:
Also FWIW, for ear problems it's not the altitude it's the rate of altitude change over time. Airline cabins not only stay at or below 8000 PA, they also rarely exceed a few hundred FPM of change and that's why partial blockages present less of a problem in an airliner than in a Cherokee. A near total block can be quite painful, even in an airliner.
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I have one friend who has such bad ear problems that she needs to wear ear pressurizers (at least that's what she calls them) whenever she flies commercial. I think it's still another rate of change thing, but her ears are extremely intolerant to changes in pressure. Forget about flying in a small plane - it just won't happen.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I have one friend who has such bad ear problems that she needs to wear ear pressurizers (at least that's what she calls them) whenever she flies commercial. I think it's still another rate of change thing, but her ears are extremely intolerant to changes in pressure. Forget about flying in a small plane - it just won't happen.
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For the most part you can control the pressure changes in a light plane well enough to make it a non-event for someone with plugged ears and/or sinuses, especially when VFR. I've flown my wife several times when she couldn't equalize and most of those trips were IFR. ATC is generally accommodating and when they can't allow a very gradual climb or descent on course you can pretty much always get a vector that lets you change altitude at your leisure. We did have one issue on a flight involving this when she decided she needed to get to a bathroom quickly and I came down too fast for her ears. I had to climb back up a couple thousand feet and come back down much more slowly (when her ear started to hurt she forgot all about the bathroom issue for a while).
 
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The ear is still "popped." The more I think about the more I feel it really might not have anything to do with the pressurization in the airplane, but an actual virus in my ear. From what I've read online, it isn't unheard of to get a virus that causes sudden hearing loss, but is seems like dizziness is also a symptom; and I don't have that. I am really hoping it IS a virus and that the medicine can take care of it. It is very frustrating. It is like listening to music with headphones and only one ear of the headphones work.

Another question: Is this something I would need to tell the FAA about? I can still hear perfectly fine in my left ear, and I would be easily able to pass the hearing test the examiner gave me when I got my medical....

The headset is a simple Avcomm AC-200PNR for whoever was interested. If anyone else has any ideas, please let me know!!!

Robby
 
You say the ear popped... could it be your ears have been plugged for years, and now aren't? ;)

Does it feel plugged now, or unplugged?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I have one friend who has such bad ear problems that she needs to wear ear pressurizers (at least that's what she calls them) whenever she flies commercial. I think it's still another rate of change thing, but her ears are extremely intolerant to changes in pressure. Forget about flying in a small plane - it just won't happen.
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Placebo effect.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
You say the ear popped... could it be your ears have been plugged for years, and now aren't? ;)

Does it feel plugged now, or unplugged?
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Plugged. If I cover my left ear (good), I can barely make out what the TV is saying at a normal volume. If I cover my right ear, I can hear it just fine.
 
wildwobby said:
Another question: Is this something I would need to tell the FAA about?
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Yes, but not until your next regular visit to the AME. You will need to report all Doctor visits, including this one. Ditto the medication s/he prescribed. For a condition like this, you are self-certifying your medical airworthiness in between normal AME visits.

Check the medicine on the AOPA web site medical section to make sure the meds themselves are not temporarily grounding. If they are not there, you are good to fly.

-Skip
 
gismo said:
For the most part you can control the pressure changes in a light plane well enough to make it a non-event for someone with plugged ears and/or sinuses, especially when VFR. I've flown my wife several times when she couldn't equalize and most of those trips were IFR. ATC is generally accommodating and when they can't allow a very gradual climb or descent on course you can pretty much always get a vector that lets you change altitude at your leisure. We did have one issue on a flight involving this when she decided she needed to get to a bathroom quickly and I came down too fast for her ears. I had to climb back up a couple thousand feet and come back down much more slowly (when her ear started to hurt she forgot all about the bathroom issue for a while).
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Right, and another thing I've noticed is that my ears are significantly more tolerant to rapid changes now as I've gotten used to it. When I first started flying, the occasional 2000 fpm climb/descent (which was generally in my instructor's Navajo) was painful. Now, no big deal. Everyone is different, though.

SCCutler said:
Placebo effect.
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This girl just has really bad ears, having had repeated popped ear drums and a number of childhood ear infections. She hates airplanes in general (the ear issues only being a small part of it), but she'll get in pretty significant ear pain just from driving through Pennsylvania with the elevation changes.

Point is, for some people it really is a significant problem.
 
wildwobby said:
The ear is still "popped." The more I think about the more I feel it really might not have anything to do with the pressurization in the airplane, but an actual virus in my ear. ... It is like listening to music with headphones and only one ear of the headphones work.
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I still think your ears weren't "popped", but "plugged". The symptoms you've described are exactly what I suffer (and my wife suffers) if I descend too quickly without performing the Valsalva regularly. It's possible you have a virus, but let's start with the simple stuff first and make sure the pressure in your middle ear closely approximates ambient pressure. :)

And your headsets have nothing to do with it. I'm willing to put money on that.

See this thread for a similar situation experienced by another pilot.
 
TknoFlyer said:
I still think your ears weren't "popped", but "plugged". The symptoms you've described are exactly what I suffer (and my wife suffers) if I descend too quickly without performing the Valsalva regularly. It's possible you have a virus, but let's start with the simple stuff first and make sure the pressure in your middle ear closely approximates ambient pressure. :)

And your headsets have nothing to do with it. I'm willing to put money on that.

See this thread for a similar situation experienced by another pilot.
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"Another pilot" here. :smile:

Well, Robby's symptoms don't match mine exactly. My own voice sounds muffled in my right (affected) ear but other sounds are normal and I don't notice any significant hearing loss.

But definitely, if my hearing was normal before a flight and then I noticed problems as soon as I took of my headset, I would think of something caused by pressure changes sooner than a virus.

Robby, out of curiosity what tests did your ENT do? As I understand it, an inner ear virus is next to impossible to diagnose with any confidence. In my case the drum is retracted (negative pressure difference between middle ear and ambient) and there is fluid and air bubbles visible. My drum doesn't move normally with air pressure. So it was pretty obvious to both me and my ENT what was going on.

Do you have any trouble clearing your ears on descent?

None of us can diagnose you over the Internet (we're not doctors and didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express!) I'm just trying to throw out some thoughts that might help you figure it out, with your doctor's help.
 
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The ENT did a few tests. Besides looking inside the ear with the microscope, they had a machine that plugged into my ears and did some sort of pressure test; it came out normal though. The hearing test he later performed showed that I had a VERY dramatic hearing loss in my right ear at 2000hz+. I have another appointment with an "ear only" ENT doctor later this week who can hopefully solve my problem. I have not had any improvement since I started taking the meds on Tuesday. I think they are also going to take an MRI to check if there is any structural damage in the inner ear or something like that.

I really hope this all works out. Being pretty much deaf in one ear sucks.... It is REALLY annoying (think listening to music with a headset where only earphone works).
 
So did they give you any good advice like drink plenty of cold carbonated mildly alcoholic beverages and chew gum? :)

Hey, clearing the ears is frequently an excuse for a post flight brew or two. Chewing seems to help too.
 
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