Why do your ears pop such as on an airplane?

Answer 1

How Does Air Pressure Affect The Ear?
It is the middle ear that causes discomfort during air travel, because it is an air pocket inside the head that is vulnerable to changes in air pressure.

Normally, each time (or each second or third time) you swallow, your ears make a little click or popping sound. This occurs because a small bubble of air has entered your middle ear, up from the back of your nose. It passes through the Eustachian tube, a membrane-lined tube about the size of a pencil lead that connects the back of the nose with the middle ear. The air in the middle ear is constantly being absorbed by its membranous lining and resupplied through the Eustachian tube. In this manner, air pressure on both sides of the eardrum stays about equal. If and when the air pressure is not equal, the ear feels blocked.


Blocked Ears And Eustachian Tubes
The Eustachian tube can be blocked, or obstructed, for a variety of reasons. When that occurs, the middle ear pressure cannot be equalized. The air already there is absorbed and a vacuum occurs, sucking the eardrum inward and stretching it. Such an eardrum cannot vibrate naturally, so sounds are muffled or blocked, and the stretching can be painful. If the tube remains blocked, fluid (like blood serum) will seep into the area from the membranes in an attempt to overcome the vacuum. This is called "fluid in the ear," serous otitis, or aero-otitis.

The most common cause for a blocked Eustachian tube is the common cold. Sinus infections and nasal allergies (hay fever, etc.) are also causes. A stuffy nose leads to stuffy ears because the swollen membranes block the opening of the Eustachian tube.

Children are especially vulnerable to blockages because their Eustachian tubes are narrower than adults.


The Three Parts Of The Ear

The outer ear: the part that you can see on the side of the head plus the ear canal leading down to the eardrum.
The middle ear: the eardrum and ear bones (ossicles), plus the air spaces behind the eardrum and in the mastoid cavities (vulnerable to air pressure).
The inner ear: the area that contains the nerve endings for the organs of hearing and balance (equilibrium).

How Can Air Travel Cause Ear Problems?
Air travel is sometimes associated with rapid changes in air pressure. To maintain comfort, the Eustachian tube must open frequently and wide enough to equalize the changes in pressure. This is especially true when the airplane is landing, going from low atmospheric pressure down closer to earth where the air pressure is higher.

Actually, any situation in which rapid altitude or pressure changes occur creates the problem. You may have experienced it when riding in elevators or when diving to the bottom of a swimming pool. Deep sea divers are taught how to equalize their ear pressures; so are pilots. You can learn the tricks too.


How To Unblock Your Ears
Swallowing activates the muscle that opens the Eustachian tube. You swallow more often when you chew gum or let mints melt in your mouth. These are good air travel practices, especially just before take-off and during descent. Yawning is even better. Avoid sleeping during descent, because you may not be swallowing often enough to keep up with the pressure changes. (The flight attendant will be happy to awaken you just before descent).

If yawning and swallowing are not effective, unblock your ears as follows:

Step 1: Pinch your nostrils shut.
Step 2: Take a mouthful of air.
Step 3: Using your cheek and throat muscles, force the air into the back of your nose as if you were trying to blow your thumb and fingers off your nostrils.
When you hear a loud pop in your ears, you have succeeded. You may have to repeat this several times during descent.

Babies' Ears
Babies cannot intentionally pop their ears, but popping may occur if they are sucking on a bottle or pacifier. Feed your baby during the flight, and do not allow him or her to sleep during descent.

Precautions

When inflating your ears, you should not use force. The proper technique involves only pressure created by your check and throat muscles.
If you have a cold, a sinus infection, or an allergy attack, it is best to postpone an airplane trip.
If you recently have undergone ear surgery, consult with your surgeon on how soon you may safely fly.
What About Decongestants And Nose Sprays?

Many experienced air travelers use a decongestant pill or nasal spray an hour or so before descent. This will shrink the membranes and help the ears pop more easily. Travelers with allergy problems should take their medication at the beginning of the flight for the same reason.

Decongestant tablets and sprays can be purchased without a prescription. However, they should be avoided by people with heart disease, high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythms, thyroid disease, or excessive nervousness. Such people should consult their physicians before using these medicines. Pregnant women should likewise consult their physicians first.

If Your Ears Will Not Unblock
Even after landing you can continue the pressure equalizing techniques, and you may find decongestants and nasal sprays to be helpful. (However, avoid making a habit of nasal sprays. After a few days, they may cause more congestion than they relieve). If your ears fail to open, or if pain persists, you will need to seek the help of a physician who has experience in the care of ear disorders. He/she may need to release the pressure or fluid with a small incision in the ear drum.

Answer 2

It is the middle ear that causes discomfort during air travel, because it is an air pocket inside the head that is vulnerable to changes in air pressure.

Normally, each time (or each second or third time) you swallow, your ears make a little click or popping sound. This occurs because a small bubble of air has entered your middle ear, up from the back of your nose. It passes through the Eustachian tube, a membrane-lined tube about the size of a pencil lead that connects the back of the nose with the middle ear. The air in the middle ear is constantly being absorbed by its membranous lining and resupplied through the Eustachian tube. In this manner, air pressure on both sides of the eardrum stays about equal. If and when the air pressure is not equal, the ear feels blocked.

Air travel is sometimes associated with rapid changes in air pressure. To maintain comfort, the Eustachian tube must open frequently and wide enough to equalize the changes in pressure. This is especially true when the airplane is landing, going from low atmospheric pressure down closer to earth where the air pressure is higher.

Actually, any situation in which rapid altitude or pressure changes occur creates the problem. You may have experienced it when riding in elevators or when diving to the bottom of a swimming pool. Deep sea divers are taught how to equalize their ear pressures; so are pilots. You can learn the tricks too.

Answer 3

Your ears pop to let pressure into, or out of your head.... for instance, ariplanes climb to very hight altitudes, rather quickly. Though the cabin is pressurized, it's not perfect, and the pressure inside becomes less. If you were to climb that high that fast in an open cockpit, if your ears didn't pop, your head would explode.
Explode because the higher you go, the less pressure, and if your ears weren't popping to keep the same pressue, the pressure in your head would try to go out and out and out till it finally exploded, the oppisite happens when you decend, either into water, or from a plane. As a plane decends, the air pressure rises. So there's more pressure pushing on your head, if your ears didn't pop inwards (usually more painful) your head would implode. Hopefully that helps you.

Answer 4

Inside your eardrums are air-filled chambers. The chambers are connected by little open tubes to the air space in the back of your nose. In a plane that flies high-up, the cabin is pressurized so that its air pressure is higher than the outside air but usually less than at ground level. When the plane goes up, the cabin air pressure decreases and some air slowly escapes from your inner ear through the little tubes.

For many people, the problem occurs when the plane comes down and air pressure in the cabin increases. The little tubes from the nose may not let air through fast enough. Then the air pressure in your inner ear stays low and the higher pressure of the cabin air pushes in on your eardrum. That hurts.

It helps to keep the muscles of your face and mouth working to massage the little tubes and keep them open for air to go through. That’s why it helps to chew gum.

Answer 5

Normally at high altitude the pressures are low

So as u ascend to higher altitudes
the pressure in your middle ear will Also fall so your ear drum collapses
but this is prevented by the Eustachian tube that connects your middle ear to the throat by which closes wen pressure falls

Answer 6

It's the air pressure, from being so high and moving so fast. Airplanes exceed the 100 mile limit.

Answer 7

Mine do the same thing then they hurt really bad. It is from all the air pressure. Try chewing gum and taking an allergy pill before boarding. With babies give them a bottle while in the air.

Answer 8

Your ears pop in air planes because the air high above the surface of Earth is less dense than air near the surface, because air near the surface has all the air above it pushing down.

Answer 9

It's because of the change in air pressure.

Answer 10

That's their natural reaction to the change in air pressure.