sth@rayssd.UUCP (Stephen T. Hirsch) (07/08/85)
I was wondering if any of the readers of this net ever have sinus trouble
during landing (on big jets), or is it peculiar to me. While landing on
a United (boo!) big jet in Chicago, I experienced excruciating pain above
my eyes. Is there any possible solution to this? I tried all the standard
remedies, but to no avail. Many thanx in advance.
Steve Hirsch, {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus, ccieng5}!rayssd!sth
Raytheon Co, Submarine Signal Div., Portsmouth, RIstevel@haddock.UUCP (07/09/85)
Whenever I have a cold or bad alergies and have to fly I take a
good dose of AFRIN, actually I use CVS'S generic equivlant.
AFRIN is a a super power nasal spray effective for 12 hours. Two
shot about an hour before the flight really clears out all those
little nasal passages. In about half an hour your head is clear
and it lasts for a coast to coast flight with changes.
If it's not strong drugs you want then try DRISTAN nasal spray,
or generic equivlant.
Steve Ludlum {decvax ! cca | yale | ihnp4 | cbosgd}!ima!stevel
PS: Maybe I should write bad advertising.falk@uiucuxc.Uiuc.ARPA (07/10/85)
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My husband has severe sinus problems on landings and takeoffs (but mostly
landing) on big planes (it's funny, he's flown with me in bitsy planes and
doesn't have any trouble). Anyway, I don't know what "standard remedies"
you've tried, but Sam takes starts taking an antihistamine (usually sudafed
or contact) a day before he plans on flying and takes a vick's inhaler with
him on the flight. Since he's begun doing that, he hasn't had any problems.
We had one vacation where he was miserable for the first several days because
he had such a headache and his ears wouldn't "pop" from the flight, so we were
desparate to find a solution. Hope this helps.
Connie
/uiucuxc/uiucdcs/falknzm10@amdahl.UUCP (Neal Macklin) (07/12/85)
> While landing on a United (boo!) big jet in Chicago, I experienced > excruciating pain above my eyes. Is there any possible solution > to this? I tried all the standard remedies, but to no avail. > Many thanx in advance. > > Steve Hirsch, {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus, ccieng5}!rayssd!sth > Raytheon Co, Submarine Signal Div., Portsmouth, RI Afrin spray works well in emergencies, but don't abuse it. Also try not to fly if you have a head cold because the changes in pressure can push the infection around to new areas of your sinuses. You may have a chronic sinusitis condition (an infection chewing away up there) and you must get your sinuses draining to clear it up for good. If this is happening every time you fly, you need to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor who will give you a strong decongestant. If you let the condition persist, they will have to drill a hole in your sinuses to let them drain. You can also damage your hearing if the infection plugs up the tube between your throat and ear. The increase in air pressure on descent will puncture your eardrum and give you a new meaning for the word pain. -- Neal Macklin (408) 737-5214 ...{hplabs,ihnp4}!amdahl!nzm10 [There are no opinions expressed in this article].
doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (07/12/85)
> I was wondering if any of the readers of this net ever have sinus trouble > during landing (on big jets), or is it peculiar to me. While landing on > a United (boo!) big jet in Chicago, I experienced excruciating pain above > my eyes. Is there any possible solution to this? I tried all the standard > remedies, but to no avail. Many thanx in advance. My wife and I both have problems with recompression. When flying a light plane, I keep the descent rate to 300 fpm or less to avoid it. Certain air carriers are worse than others. Around here, Southwest Airlines is famous (infamous?) for arriving on 3-mile final at 5000 AGL (well, that's a *bit* exaggerated :-) I asked the doc about it, and he said about all I can do is take an allergy tablet an hour or so before descent, use a nasal inhaler when beginning descent, and Valsalva as required during the descent. I also find that removing my (hard) contact lenses provides a marginal improvement in the level of "discomfort". -- Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug ^^^^^--- soon to be CalComp
ted@bcsaic.UUCP (ted jardine) (07/14/85)
Though it may seem trivially obvious, sinus and ear problems on descent are caused by the rate of change of 'cabin' pressure being greater than the rate at which the sinus or ear can adapt to the change. The problem is more frequently encountered on high performance aircraft, especially airline aircraft, because of pressurization and their high rate of descent. A rate of descent of more than 3000 fpm is not uncommon until reaching the initial approach fix. I'm no expert on pressurization systems, but I know that they are designed to maintain a 10,000 foot cabin pressure above that altitude and then ambient pressure (perhaps at a lower rate of change) below 10 thousand. The rate of change in a smaller airplane is not nearly as great, perhaps 500-1,000 fpm. Using an antihistamine and an inhaler is appropriate for anyone with unusual sinus difficulties, as it keeps the passages into the sinus cavities and the ear as clear as possible. Also useful is a procedure called the Valsalva (sp?) method, in which you close your mouth, pinch your nose shut and forcefully exhale. Using this several times during descent will clear up almost all ear problems and many sinus problems will at least be reduced, if not disappear. In the good old days, long before deregulation, the flight attendants used to have antihistamine inhalers, but that practice has been abandoned. For small children, giving them something to suck on before and during the descent is often very helpful. One of the side effects of a baby crying is to open up the Eustachian tube which alleviates the pain. Just 'tricks' I've learned bouncing around up there. TJ (with Amazing Grace) The Piper (aka Ted Jardine) Boeing Artificial Intelligence Center ...uw-beaver!uw-june!bcsaic!ted
rice@fluke.UUCP (Ken Rice) (07/16/85)
You might check with your destination before using an Sinus Decongestant inhaler on an international flight. In several other countries (Japan, for example), the stimulant that's in the medication is not legal and the inhaler will be confiscated at customs. I've heard of at least one incident when the authorities decided to make a "federal case" out of the problem. Note too that the ingredients tend to cause headaches in some people (like me) and may also cause sleeplessness and the jitters. The stimulant is strong enough to show up on blood tests--so beware if you're traveling to sports competitions or if taking other medications.