It's 6am and in about an hour, I need to be at the Frankfurt International Airport to catch the 8:10 Lufthansa flight to London. Yes, I know what to expect with regards to additional security measures (stress, waiting and more stress) after the terrorist incident at Glasgow Airport last week. But, that is not why I am online.
I am online because after a week of living with a congested nose, plugged ears and headaches, I still have yet to find the time to check in with my doctor. So, I am doing a short research on airplane ear. It has been hell the past week and short as the flight from Frankfurt to London may be, I am expecting to have an even harder time because of this darn cold.
CNN Health says, "Ear pain associated with flying is due to unequal pressure between your middle ear and the cabin of the airplane. I
f airplane ear is severe or prolonged, you may experience:
And this... "Reconsider travel plans. Don't fly with a cold or upper respiratory congestion or infection unless necessary" is making me reconsider. I may have to postpone this trip, seeing that none of the 2 nasal decongestant sprays, Vicks DayMed and Vicks Medi-Nait seems to be working for the past week. So I should probably assume that none of them will work if and when I do choose to fly later.
Risk to my ears or my deadline? Which should I choose? Hmmm... decisions...
photo source
Just flew back from a short little vacation in the Rockies...with a head cold. That was on Monday. It's Wednesday now and my ears still haven't popped completely yet. Everytime I yawn, I can hear the pressure change in my ear. Very annoying...
I know the risks are there but at the same time, I figure, as long as you know you don't have a serious problem with your ears, it's not that big of a risk to take. I know a friend who has excruciating ear pain whenever she flies so I would highly recommend that she doesn't attempt this. But for frequent flyers like us, it's probably ok...probably...
Posted by: Tim Arai | July 11, 2007 8:13 AM | Permalink to Comment