Extended use of decongestant nasal sprays can also cause more congestion than relief, and even result in a type of addiction. However, if you are pregnant, or have heart disease, high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythms, thyroid disease, or excessive nervousness, consult your physician before using these medications. Over-the-counter nasal sprays or decongestants can also help air travelers to shrink the membranes and help the ears pop more easily. If you have allergies, take your medications at the beginning of your flight. You and your children should avoid sleeping during descent because swallowing may not occur often enough to keep up with changes in air pressure. Plus, babies cannot intentionally pop their ears, but sucking on a bottle or pacifier can help. You’ll know if it worked when you hear a pop, and your ears feel less plugged.īabies and children are especially vulnerable to ear blockage because their eustachian tubes are narrower than in adults. You can also try pinching your nose, taking a mouthful of air, blowing gently (not forcefully) against your pinched nose, then swallowing. Yawning, chewing gum, or sucking on hard candy can help, especially just before take-off and during descent. Both decompression illness and barotrauma of the inner ear result in residual cochleovestibular damage in more than three of four patients.The simplest way to help clear your ears-particularly when flying-is to swallow. Inner ear decompression illness is frequently associated with a R/L shunt therefore, after a diving accident, the patient's fitness to dive should be assessed via a specialist in diving medicine. CONCLUSION: We describe for the first time a patient with bilateral manifestation of inner ear decompression illness. Of patients with inner ear barotrauma, 78% had residual cochleovestibular damage. Three patients were subjected to tympanoscopy because of suspected rupture of the round window membrane. The hearing loss ranged from an unobtrusive difference of 10 dB between the ears up to complete deafness. Twenty-one patients complained of tinnitus, whereas 20 complained of hearing loss. Only 9 of 26 patients with inner ear barotrauma mentioned feeling dizzy, and in no patient was vertigo the main symptom. In 15 (83%) of 18 patients, a large R/L shunt was detected, and in 14 (78%) of 18 patients, residual cochleovestibular damage was detected. The divers with inner ear decompression illness had been treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy in 14 of 20 cases the average latency period before the start of therapy was 40 hours (median, 10 h). In one diver, the inner ear decompression illness was manifested bilaterally. RESULTS: Of 18 divers with inner ear decompression illness, 17 reported vertigo as the main symptom. Divers with inner ear decompression illness were examined via means of transcranial or carotid Doppler ultrasonography for the presence of a vascular right-to-left (R/L) shunt. The symptoms of the disorder at the beginning of treatment, latency period before the first therapeutic measures, kind of initial therapy, symptoms after the accident, and hearing and balance functions at the last examination in our clinic were assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records were used to study the cases of 18 divers treated for inner ear decompression illness on 20 occasions and 26 divers who had inner ear barotrauma. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case analysis. The objective of the present article is to investigate the symptoms of the acute disorders and assess any residual damage. Among the 319 patients treated in our clinic between January 2002 and November 2005, 46 cases involved 44 divers with symptoms of acute inner ear disorders. INTRODUCTION: Diving accidents affecting the inner ear are much more common than was once thought.
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