DOCTORS have urged passengers to pick up a simple £2.99 item to avoid pain during flights.
Many flyers can experience sinus pain when on a flight – caused by changes in pressure.
This is caused aerosinusitis and, unlike “aeroplane ear“, which can be solved by popping your ears, it doesn’t have an easy fix.
However, doctors say that simple congestion relief medicine can do the trick – which can be picked up for as little as £2.99.
Dr Richard Lebowitz, an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) doctor at NYU Langone Medical Center, told the Thrillist website: “The sinuses are air-filled spaces – that is, empty spaces – in the bones of your face, and they have little openings in them, so they can equalize pressure.
“They’re normally just always open, but they can get blocked from swelling or inflammation of the sinus lining.”
Dr Richard explained that this could cause intense pain for flyers.
He said: “The sinus needs to equalize pressure, too. But there’s no way for it to do it, so it just keeps getting worse and worse over the course of that descent. It can be really excruciating at times.”
Moving on to the simple treatment, Dr Richard said: “You can try to reduce the swelling of the membranes that can block the opening, so that would mean using the same things you’d use if you have this problem with your ears – Rin and Sudafed.”
He added that in extreme cases, doctors may prescribe oral steroids for inflammation – and in even more extreme cases, a surgical procedure can be undertaken.
He said: “It’s very easy to fix the problem if you’re someone who has this regularly and flies a lot or professionally.
“You have to open up those sinus drainage halfway surgically. Once you do that, the problem goes away.”
Aerosinusitis can be extremely uncomfortable for some passengers.
Erica Klauber, 39, recalled experiencing severe pain and even fearing she was having an aneurysm while on a business trip in 2013.
She said: “I remember looking at the guy next to me.
“I was like, ‘Should I reach out and tell him? Do I have the faculties to tell him that this is it?'”
However Dr Richard reassured travellers that as painful as may feel, aerosinusitis is “not really a big deal”, adding: “Once the pain has resolved, the problem is resolved.”
He added that while many patients fear their heads might explode, “that isn’t a real thing. Your sinus cannot explode or implode. It just hurts a lot.”
Symptoms of sinusitis:
Treatments for sinusitis:
Source: NHS
