will my head explode if i get on a plane with sinus and ear problems?

[cheapie]

i have a bad sinus infection and my head, including one of my ears seems totally plugged up. with the pressure change, is the pressure change on the plane going to be unbearable?

[DaFunkyUnit]

depends on what your pain threshold is. i had a friend who had an ear infection, and then flew coast to coast. On the stop over in either Houston or Chicago, he had to delay his flight in order to take medicine. Yea, pretty bad.

If I were you, would try to avoid it. How long is your flight?

[chadlnc]

I flew with an ear infection before, one connection flight from Charlotte, NC to LA. DON'T do it. IT was the absolute most pain I have EVER been in. It felt like my head was being crushed. It only hurt on descent, but it was incredible. I was in so much pain I almost passed out, I got off the plane covered in sweat. Didn't even know I had an ear infection until I went to the urgent care in LA.

[avlena]

i flew from minnesota to colorado once, with pneumonia (didn't know at the time though). it hurt like heck, and i was absolutely miserable the entire flight. now i'm totally sypathetic towards babies that are screaming their heads off cuz they can't pop their ears i would avoid it if possible, but like DaFunkyUnit said, depends on your pain threshold.

[bbrian]

With that much of an altitude change it IS possible to burst your ear drum.

[Airencracken]

will my head explode if i get on a plane with sinus and ear problems?

Only if we're lucky.

:P

[InfiniteNothing]

take sudafed. It's good for unclogging ones ears when one has a cold.

[PrObLy]

Originally posted by chadlnc
I flew with an ear infection before, one connection flight from Charlotte, NC to LA. DON'T do it. IT was the absolute most pain I have EVER been in. It felt like my head was being crushed. It only hurt on descent, but it was incredible. I was in so much pain I almost passed out, I got off the plane covered in sweat. Didn't even know I had an ear infection until I went to the urgent care in LA.

:stupid:

This happened to me also. It was also the first time I flew, and boy, did it suck. The only times I can recall being in more serious and prolonged pain were the two times I ruptured my ear drum....which was quite a similar feeling.

[cheapie]

thanks for the advice. the right side of my sinus feels like it's going to push through my cheeckbone and i can't hardly hear myself talk. i'll try the sudafed as soon as i can get to a pharmacy. i'm flying from albuquerque to kalamazoo. lol. those names are both pretty weird.

anyhow, i've already checked into my flight so that i had a better chance of getting first class. i'm not sure how to cancel the flight in case i want to.

[kimchicowboy]

i had a huge sinus problem once while we were preparing to land. it felt like my left eyeball was gonna pop out. all the stewardess could do was give me a moist handtowel to cover my eye with. haha. so i guess it would prevent things from getting messy. :P

[whitak24]

it causes some pretty bad pain (i've flown with sinus infections on a number of occasions), but don't sweat it. you'll survive :P

[cheapie]

i'm in so much pain now that i had a hard time driving home from the restaurant. in fact, those of you that know my drinking and eating habits, i was so uncomfortable that i didn't drink my margarita or eat my mexican dinner....both of which are unheard of. i'll likely call the airline and cancel. i don't care how much it will cost. i'm dying here. sudafed just made me jittery. omg. this hurts.

btw, i'm sitting in the hot tub at the hotel typing this. my secretary sent out this note...Do any of you need a Sprint wireless card?

me...yes!!! why?

her response...I'll get you one

yay! so i have this (http://www.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/devices/wireless_cards/cf2031.html)
http://www.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/common/images/products/big_cf2031.jpg

i have no idea how much it costs per month. i'm not paying it so :shrug:

this is in addition to my cell, pda, obviously a laptop, broadband at home, and the use of a company s6 anytime. ok i lied about the last thing. :D

[chadlnc]

We have three in our office, the unlimited plan costs $80 a month.

[Merlin]

Don't be such a wuss. You'll be fine. Just drink heavily while on the plane.

[ray]

Originally posted by cheapie
i have no idea how much it costs per month. i'm not paying it so :shrug:

this is in addition to my cell, pda, obviously a laptop, broadband at home, and the use of a company s6 anytime. ok i lied about the last thing. :D

Ahh, taking advantage of the corporate benefits. Excellent :P

[cheapie]

i had the worst, most painful night ever last night. i had a fever, aching head, and sharp pain in my ear drum. just terrible. so i went to the emergency room this morning and cancelled my flight. the doctor said my ear was infected as well an my sinus. yay. anyhow, they put me on an iv cuz i was dehydrated and also gave me a bunch of medicine with it. i'm in a little bit of pain right now but NOTHING compared to last night. i'll try and reschedule my flight for tomorrow.

[molecularfire]

Man... if you're flying with a sinus infection, you have my pity. If you can hold off your flight, that's my advice. If you absolutely have to fly, take 2 sudafeds about half an hour before take-off. If you have the pressure, it'll still hurt like hell, but it'll be less than without. Another thing that you can do is put some warm/hot water in a bottle and put that against the ear that hurts. That's what flight attendants tell me they do when they fly with a sinus infection. Whatever you do, DO NOT pinch your nose and try to blow the pressure out of your ear. It works ok if you're healthy but only makes things worse if you have a sinus infection.

[johnnymk]

If you can find Guaifenex 600 or 1200 mg, it will help in draining your sinuses. It's the ingredient that all allergy and sinus medications use for draining.

However, with your sinuses as bad as they are, I doubt that they will have much impact.

[cheapie]

sigh....i'm on the phone with the travel agency and they say since i missed my flight yesterday, the next available return flight is SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omg, i hope they can get me a ticket w/another airline or something. i don't want to stick around here for another 2 days without anything to do. i miss my family =(

[cheapie]

this is the trip from hell! they can get me out....for $1200!!!


sigh...

[Maarchk]

Originally posted by cheapie
this is the trip from hell! they can get me out....for $1200!!!


sigh...

I hope you get home soon and feel better... I had a few infections in my ears when i flew from LA to Chicago, and i was so messed up with drugs and pain that i couldnt hear anything. Of course i was behind the engines so it was even louder. I had brought a rolled up painting i made for a friend with me and the stewardess was trying to take it from me to put it over head. But i couldn't hear her so i just kinda shook my head at her and then she went to take it and i thought she was gonna throw it out, so i hopped up and grabbed it from her and man did she jump. I was like hmm maybe not the best approach so i put it under my chair and pretended like nothing happened... :shifty:
needless to say i didn't get my drink or peanuts :(

[cheapie]

gosh. and the story goes on....i show up at the airport to fly standby for the 2:00 flight and there's NOTHING available, on any airline, at any price. so northwest is like, here, check your luggage and we'll put these standby tags on it which will ensure that if you do not get on the plane, neither will your luggage. well....guess the rest of the story. yup. the luggage got on the &*$^#%%@% plane but i didn't!!! so i'm stuck in albuquerque with no luggage now. unstinkingbelievable. i was talking to my boss about it and he said just pay whatever it takes to get home. i told him there was a first class ticket for tomorrow morning for $850. he said go for it, don't worry about the cost. so i hope to be out of here tomorro morning. i'm not holding my breath tho'.

so i'm sitting in my hotel room, in jeans and a long-sleeve dress shirt and looking out at the beautiful 80 degree sunny day thinking "i wish i had packed some shorts and a t-shirt. oh wait, i did. they're ON THE ****ing plane!!!"

[cheapie]

sorry about all of the bitching. maybe i'll stop whining and go soak in the hot tub. hmmm...no shorts. ok. i'll just take a hot bath and let my head soak. DOH! they gave me a handicap room w/only the shower. sigh...