Ear popping and pain during flights happen because the air pressure in your middle ear can’t keep up with the rapid pressure changes inside the cabin. A narrow passage called the eustachian tube connects your middle ear to the back of your throat, and its job is to equalize pressure on both sides of your eardrum. During climb and descent, cabin pressure shifts faster than this tube can adjust, leaving your eardrum stretched in one direction. The good news: a few simple techniques, timed correctly, can keep that pressure balanced and your ears comfortable.
Why Your Ears React to Altitude Changes
Your eardrum sits between two air-filled spaces: the ear canal (exposed to cabin air) and the middle ear (a sealed pocket behind the eardrum). When the plane climbs, cabin pressure drops and the higher-pressure air trapped in your middle ear pushes the eardrum outward. During descent, the opposite happens: cabin pressure rises and presses the eardrum inward. Either way, the mismatch stops the eardrum from vibrating normally, producing that familiar plugged feeling, muffled hearing, and sometimes sharp pain.
Swallowing or yawning opens the eustachian tube briefly, letting air flow in or out to rebalance pressure. That’s the entire basis of every prevention strategy below. Anything that keeps the tube opening regularly during pressure changes will protect your ears.
Techniques You Can Use in Your Seat
Start these as soon as the plane begins its descent (the captain usually announces this 20 to 30 minutes before landing) and during the initial climb after takeoff. Descent tends to cause more discomfort because the eustachian tube has a harder time letting air back into the middle ear than releasing it.
Swallowing and Yawning
The simplest approach is just to swallow frequently. Chewing gum works not because of the gum itself, but because chewing triggers constant swallowing, which repeatedly opens the eustachian tube. Sipping water has the same effect. Forcing a yawn also pulls the tube open, though it’s harder to do on command.
The Valsalva Maneuver
Pinch your nostrils shut, close your mouth, and gently blow as if trying to push air out through your nose. You should feel a soft pop or click as air is forced through the eustachian tube into the middle ear. Don’t blow hard. Gentle, steady pressure is all it takes, and overdoing it can damage your ear.
The Toynbee Maneuver
Pinch your nostrils shut and swallow at the same time. This works especially well during descent because swallowing pulls the eustachian tube open while the pinched nose creates a slight pressure change that helps air move into the middle ear. Many people find this more comfortable than the Valsalva technique.
The Frenzel Maneuver
Pinch your nostrils, close the back of your throat as if you’re about to lift something heavy, then make the sound of the letter “K.” This uses your tongue as a piston to compress air into the eustachian tube. Divers use this method constantly, and it works just as well at altitude. It takes a bit of practice on the ground before it feels natural.
Decongestants and Nasal Sprays
If you’re even slightly congested, swollen tissues around the eustachian tube make equalization much harder. An oral decongestant taken before your flight can shrink that swelling. A low dose (30 mg) is generally enough and less likely to cause the jittery, anxious feeling higher doses can produce. Take it about 30 to 60 minutes before departure so it’s active by the time you reach cruising altitude.
For longer flights, a nasal decongestant spray (oxymetazoline, sold as Afrin) is useful because you can time a second dose before landing. Use it one to two hours before the plane is scheduled to touch down. This gives the spray time to reduce swelling in your nasal passages right when descent begins. Don’t rely on nasal sprays for more than three consecutive days, though, because they can cause rebound congestion that makes the problem worse.
Pressure-Equalizing Earplugs
Specialty earplugs designed for flying contain a small vent or filter that slows the rate of pressure change reaching your eardrum. They don’t block the change entirely. Instead, they give your eustachian tube more time to catch up. You’ll find them at most pharmacies, often marketed specifically for air travel. They’re worth trying if you regularly experience discomfort, especially as a low-effort complement to the swallowing techniques above. Insert them before the plane pushes back from the gate and leave them in through landing.
Staying Awake During Takeoff and Landing
This one catches people off guard. When you’re asleep, you swallow far less often, which means your eustachian tubes aren’t opening to equalize pressure. If you doze through a descent, you can wake up with significant ear pain or a plugged feeling that lasts hours. Set an alarm or ask a travel companion to nudge you before the plane starts descending.
Flying While Congested
A cold, sinus infection, or even mild congestion significantly raises your risk of barotrauma, which is actual tissue damage from pressure buildup in the ear. Swollen mucous membranes can block the eustachian tube completely, making it impossible to equalize no matter how many maneuvers you try. If you’re noticeably congested and your travel is flexible, waiting until you’ve fully recovered is the safest move. A short trip isn’t worth turning into a longer problem with persistent ear pain or fluid buildup behind the eardrum.
If you must fly while congested, combine an oral decongestant with a nasal spray and be aggressive about equalizing early and often during ascent and descent. Don’t wait until you feel pressure building.
Helping Babies and Young Children
Infants can’t perform pressure-equalizing maneuvers, but they can swallow. Breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, or offering a pacifier during takeoff and landing encourages the frequent swallowing that keeps their eustachian tubes open. If you’re bottle-feeding, keep your baby sitting upright while drinking to avoid fluid flowing toward the ear.
Just like adults, children should be awake during takeoff and landing. A sleeping baby won’t swallow often enough to keep up with pressure changes, so try to time naps for the cruising portion of the flight rather than the climb or descent.
When Ear Problems Keep Coming Back
Some people have chronically narrow or poorly functioning eustachian tubes, a condition called eustachian tube dysfunction. If you experience painful ear pressure on nearly every flight despite using the techniques above, the issue may be structural rather than situational. Treatments range from prescription nasal steroids to reduce chronic swelling, all the way to a minor surgical procedure where a small incision is made in the eardrum to drain trapped fluid and restore ventilation. In some cases, a tiny tube is placed through the eardrum to keep the middle ear ventilated for up to a year. These tubes eventually fall out on their own as the eardrum heals.
If you’ve had middle ear surgery, you’ll typically need to wait at least 10 days before flying, and you’ll need clearance from the surgeon who performed the procedure. The healing eardrum is especially vulnerable to pressure changes during that window.