Ear pain during flights happens because air pressure in the cabin changes faster than your ears can adjust. The good news: a few simple techniques before and during takeoff and landing can prevent most of the discomfort. The key is keeping your eustachian tubes, the small passages connecting your middle ear to your throat, open and responsive to pressure shifts.
Why Your Ears Hurt on Planes
Your eardrums need equal air pressure on both sides to feel normal. A pair of narrow tubes, called eustachian tubes, run from the back of each middle ear to the back of your throat. Their job is to let outside air into your middle ear so pressure stays balanced. Normally they handle this without you noticing.
When a plane climbs or descends, cabin pressure shifts rapidly. That change happens faster than your eustachian tubes can react. The result is a pressure mismatch: your eardrum gets pushed inward or outward, causing that familiar stuffed, painful feeling. If you’re congested from a cold or allergies, swollen tissue can partially block those tubes, making the problem significantly worse.
Swallowing and Yawning During Descent
The simplest way to equalize ear pressure is to swallow frequently during takeoff and especially during landing, when the pressure change tends to feel worse. Swallowing activates the muscles that pull your eustachian tubes open, letting air flow through and balancing the pressure on your eardrum. Yawning works the same way.
Chewing gum is a reliable trick because it keeps you swallowing continuously without thinking about it. Sipping water or sucking on hard candy accomplishes the same thing. The goal is to keep those tubes opening and closing throughout the climb and descent, not just when your ears start to hurt. Start as soon as the plane begins its approach, well before you feel pressure building.
The Valsalva Maneuver
If swallowing alone isn’t enough, try the Valsalva maneuver: pinch your nostrils shut and gently blow through your nose with your mouth closed. The slight overpressure in your throat forces air up through your eustachian tubes and into your middle ear, relieving the imbalance.
Two important caveats. First, blow gently. Forcing too hard against blocked tubes won’t open them. It can actually lock the soft tissue shut, making things worse, and in extreme cases raise fluid pressure in the inner ear enough to cause damage. Second, this technique doesn’t actively open the eustachian tubes the way swallowing does. If your tubes are already sealed by a large pressure difference, the Valsalva may not work at all. That’s why it’s better to equalize early and often rather than waiting until the pain is intense.
A variation called the Toynbee maneuver combines both approaches: pinch your nostrils shut and swallow at the same time. Swallowing pulls the tubes open while the pinched nose compresses air against them. Many people find this more effective and more comfortable than the Valsalva alone.
Decongestants and Nasal Sprays
If you’re flying with any degree of nasal congestion, your eustachian tubes are already at a disadvantage. Swollen tissue narrows or blocks them, and no amount of swallowing may be enough to force them open against a pressure change.
An oral decongestant taken about 30 to 60 minutes before your flight can shrink that swelling and give your tubes room to work. A nasal decongestant spray used shortly before takeoff and again before descent offers more targeted relief. Either option reduces the inflammation that makes ears vulnerable to barotrauma in the first place. If you have allergies rather than a cold, an antihistamine serves the same purpose by reducing the swelling that blocks the tubes.
Staying Awake During Descent
One of the most common causes of severe ear pain after a flight is sleeping through the landing. When you’re asleep, you’re not swallowing frequently enough to keep up with the rapid pressure changes during descent. If you tend to doze on planes, set an alarm or ask a travel companion to wake you about 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled arrival. That gives you time to start chewing gum, sipping water, or actively equalizing before the pressure shift peaks.
Keeping Babies and Young Children Comfortable
Infants and toddlers can’t chew gum or perform a Valsalva maneuver, but the same principle applies: encourage swallowing. Breastfeeding or bottle feeding during takeoff and landing is the most effective approach, since the sucking and swallowing motion naturally opens their eustachian tubes. A pacifier works well too, especially for babies who aren’t hungry. For older toddlers, a sippy cup of water or a snack that requires chewing can serve the same purpose.
Timing matters. Start the feeding or pacifier as the plane begins its descent, not after your child is already crying from ear pain. Once the pressure difference builds, it becomes harder for their small eustachian tubes to catch up.
When Congestion Makes Flying Risky
Flying with a cold, sinus infection, or even moderate congestion significantly increases the risk of barotrauma. The pressure buildup in blocked ears can cause fluid accumulation behind the eardrum, bruising of the eardrum, or in severe cases a ruptured eardrum. Signs of serious barotrauma include sharp pain that doesn’t resolve after landing, muffled hearing that persists for hours, or any drainage or bleeding from the ear.
If you’re dealing with a significant upper respiratory infection, postponing your flight until you’ve recovered is the safest call. A short trip isn’t worth turning into a long-term ear problem. When rescheduling isn’t an option, using a decongestant before the flight and equalizing aggressively during pressure changes can reduce your risk, but congested eustachian tubes are inherently harder to manage no matter what technique you use.
Filtered Earplugs
Specialty earplugs designed for air travel (sometimes called pressure-regulating earplugs) slow the rate at which air pressure reaches your eardrum. They don’t block the pressure change entirely, but they give your eustachian tubes more time to adjust. These are available at most pharmacies and airports, and they’re worth trying if you consistently experience ear pain despite other strategies. They work best as a complement to swallowing and equalization techniques, not a replacement.