Questions regarding seating & ear popping

[MzItaly79]

Is there anywhere "better" to sit on a plane to maybe have a smoother or more comfortable ride? I've only been on a plane twice and DH (who's scared to death) never. I wondered if it was better in the middle than the back etc.

 

I know that on my very first flight my ears popped so bad I wanted to cry and then for the next day or so they continued to be full of pressure and popped often - I was so miserable. The return flight wasn't so bad but still irritating. I chewed gum and tried yawning - anyone know of anything that "really" helps with this problem? Would ear plugs help or sitting in a certain area? :confused:

[PaulMedik]

MzItaly79:

 

 

Ideally cabin pressure is equal throughout the cabin, but the reality is that there are fluctuations near windows, doors or air intakes/outlets. So basically you can say that the pressure is varied throughout. ;) The only time you should be experiencing ear pressure changes is during altitude changes, which occurs much more frequently than you might expect; In a one hour duration flight you will, most likely, be flying level for only ten minutes or so before you begin descending to land.

 

If your health is optimal, you are well hydrated, and you have no sinus congestion, you won't have any problems that a few times swallowing won't relieve.

 

If you begin to experience panic problems during the flight, the best thing to do is take a slow deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth while stretching your arms and legs. This will relax you and get the blood flowing to areas that need to be decongested. Take a bottle or two of water with you and drink throughout the flight to prevent the inevitable drying out from the plane's air conditioning system.

 

The best type of gum is tart or sour. It has to cause you to salivate, thus swallow. Take a pack with you and don't wear one piece out chewing it to death.

 

The least movement is near the wings though their tends to be more vibration there.

 

Ear plugs won't do anything and could make it worse; you have to handle them to place them in your ear and they are easily contaminated with bacteria. External ear infections, that ear plugs may cause, are more difficult to treat than internal or middle ear infections and the risk isn't worth the experiment given that the ear plug may actually prevent the equalization of pressure that your ears need.

[Arwenmark]

Yes you can get earplugs that keep that pressure from being a problem, they have them in most drugstores.

[Nanatravel]

Buy Earplanes at any chain drugstore or Walmart for about $5 per pair. They are not perfect but can help. Drinking the water continuously during the flight and Yawning also helps. Also you can try taking a decongenstant before each flight. Mid-plane seating is suggested for safety.

Bon Voyage

[mii]

There is a web site that can tell you what are good seats or not so good seats. Once you know what kind of plane such as 737, 747, 757 etc. then go in there, find the airline, then the kinds of planes they fly will come up. You will then see a diagram of the plane. The site is www.seatguru.com

 

 

Marilyn

[firstcruiserDB]

Oh, my....I was ready to NEVER, EVER fly again! I have had such a horrible time with pain and pressure in my ears. I've flown all over the world since I was young and have always experienced the pain right after take-off and especially on the descent. As a child, I would sit with tears streaming down my face as we landed. Nothing (gum, swallowing, etc.) helped, and I was "plugged" for days after a flight. I tried "Earplanes" a few years ago, and I will NEVER fly without them! They are complete lifesavers for me.

 

I purchase a new set each time I fly. I get them at Osco or any drugstore.

[Globaliser]

Is there anywhere "better" to sit on a plane to maybe have a smoother or more comfortable ride?

...

I chewed gum and tried yawning - anyone know of anything that "really" helps with this problem?

If you want the smoothest, least bumpy ride, then definitely go for somewhere right over the wing.

 

Personally, I find yawning is the thing that works best. But it can't be a prissy little yawn that's hidden behind a hand. To get the tubes inside your head to open up properly to equalise the pressure, you need a huge great see-right-past-your-tonsils sort of yawn. It's not the yawning that does it, but the position of your jaw; however, making yourself do a huge yawn is the easiest way of getting that position.

[lougee1043]

There is a web site that can tell you what are good seats or not so good seats. Once you know what kind of plane such as 737, 747, 757 etc. then go in there, find the airline, then the kinds of planes they fly will come up. You will then see a diagram of the plane. The site is www.seatguru.comquote]

 

great site but you also need to know the model number of the aircraft becaue many airlines fly different models of the same version and the seat configs change on each plane

[parody]

The site is www.seatguru.com

 

Another good site for airline seat maps is http://www.seatexpert.com/.

Basically, they include many of the same airlines but some different ones as well, and vice versa.

[parody]

This is a double post. But, I'll use the opportunity to add that http://www.seatexpert.com/ contains many foreign airlines.

[Keith1010]

I agree with Globaliser.

 

Sitting adjacent or right behind the wing is good. I would recommend that area. The web sites that others mention are based on recommendations for most comfortable seats which don't necessarily relate to ones that are less bumpy.

 

Second, when I first started to fly I used to make sure that I would chew gum at takeoff before and before landing. I no longer need to do that but I will force myself to yawn which helps a great deal.

 

Third, take a nice book with you or magazine and focus on that during takeoff and landing and during parts of the flight. It will take ones mind off other things on the flight.

 

Keith